Like yesterday's quote, this one is from Tuesday's trade hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. When it was his turn to question the witnesses -
Tom Donohue from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and
Richard Trumka from the AFL-CIO -
Senator Isakson (R-GA) described himself as someone who believes in doing business and then went on to make the observation highlighted above. Actually, he said quite a bit more than that, and we shall touch on some of it in a moment.
First, however, we should acknowledge that Tuesday was a lifetime ago, given the pace of events this week. Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee favorably reported out four major trade bills. The trade promotion authority bill, S.995, was the centerpiece, and it was approved by the comfortable and very bipartisan margin of 20 to 6, with Senator Isakson voting in the majority.
The other bills dealt with i) extension of
AGOA - the African Growth and Opportunity Act,
GSP, and trade privileges for
Haiti, ii) extension of
Trade Adjustment Assistance, and iii)
trade facilitation. All of those bills passed as did some, but not all, of the amendments associated with them. Notably, for example,
Senator Portman's (R-OH) amendment to the TPA bill on currency failed on a vote of 11 to 15.
The House Ways and Means Committee is marking up similar legislation today.
But let's go back to some of Senator Isakson's comments on Tuesday. Like the remarks of most Senators on such occasions, they took the listener to a specific place, to his state, to Georgia, and then related developments there to trade around the world. Here are a few highlights.
On Caterpillar, Georgia and Japan, he said:
"Mr. Trumka, I was in Savannah, Georgia, yesterday, where we have a new plant. Caterpillar has come into Georgia from Japan, where they're now building tractors [that] they were building in Japan. They're building them in Georgia and shipping them back to Japan out of the port of Savannah. That's good for manufacturing jobs in Georgia. Those are the middle class jobs."
On Back Office Jobs Done in India, Senator Isakson talked about a trip to India a dozen years that included a meeting with
N. R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys. The company, he explained, was then doing back office operations for U.S. hospitals and help desks for U.S. companies. He described the conversation he and his colleagues had with Mr. Murthy:
We said. "Mr. Murthy, all of America is so scared, all the jobs are going to India because of what you're doing with lower wages and more technologies and things like that. What would you tell the American people? Why should we not fear India?"
Mr. Murthy said, "A very simple reason. When I started my business, I drove an Indian car; I banked with the Bank of India; and I drank an Indian soft drink. Today, I drink Coca-Cola. I bank with City Bank. And I drive a Ford."
The point being that, when you do business with people, you end up doing business both ways.
We should add, as Senator Isakson did, that some of those back office jobs that were being done in India a decade ago are now being done in the U.S., many in the Midwest.
On Georgia and Trade, Sen. Isakson said:
"It's very important that we promote jobs and promote trade because
1.2 million Georgians' jobs directly are dependent on trade. We're the 8th largest state in the Union. We have 10,400,000 people. I want to make sure we continue to trade and have a vibrant trade policy, not one that looks the other way at currency manipulation, not one that looks the other way at labor standards, but one that is realistic enough to continue to do business. Because if you do business with people, you have a better chance to influence your rights than if you don't do business with them."
