[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
EXPORT PROMOTION REFORM ACT AND STATE TRADE COORDINATION ACT
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MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, NONPROLIFERATION, AND TRADE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H.R. 1409 and H.R. 1926
__________
JUNE 26, 2013
__________
Serial No. 113-29
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
TREY RADEL, Florida GRACE MENG, New York
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
TED S. YOHO, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
LUKE MESSER, Indiana
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
TED POE, Texas, Chairman
JOE WILSON, South Carolina BRAD SHERMAN, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TOM COTTON, Arkansas JUAN VARGAS, California
PAUL COOK, California BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
TED S. YOHO, Florida Massachusetts
C O N T E N T S
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Page
MARKUP OF
H.R. 1409, To amend the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to further
enhance the promotion of exports of United States goods and
services, and for other purposes............................... 2
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1409 offered by
the Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas, and chairman, Subcommittee on Terrorism,
Nonproliferation, and Trade.................................. 8
Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute
offered by the Honorable Alan S. Lowenthal, a Representative
in Congress from the State of California..................... 15
H.R. 1926, To further enhance the promotion of exports of United
States goods and services, and for other purposes.............. 16
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 28
Markup minutes................................................... 29
Markup summary................................................... 30
EXPORT PROMOTION REFORM ACT AND STATE TRADE COORDINATION ACT
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o'clock p.m.,
in room 2200 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ted Poe
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Poe. The committee will come to order. We meet today
pursuant to notice to mark up two bipartisan export promotion
measures. As all offices were previously notified, it is the
intent of the Chair to consider the following items en bloc:
H.R. 1409, the Export Promotion Reform Act, introduced by Mr.
Engel, a bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute to
H.R. 1409 offered by the Chair, an amendment to my amendment in
the nature of a substitute offered by Mr. Lowenthal; and H.R.
1926, the State Trade Coordination Act, introduced by Mr.
Chabot.
Without objection, these items are considered as read and
will be offered and considered en bloc.
[The information referred to follows:]H.R.
1409 deg.
ANS to H.R. 1409 deg.
Amendment to ANS deg.
H.R. 1926 deg.
Mr. Poe. I will now recognize myself and the ranking member
to speak on these measures. I recognize myself for 5 minutes.
Our economy is still in bad shape. Fewer people are
participating in the labor force this year than at any point
since 1979. Twenty-two million Americans are unemployed or
underemployed. I have the Port of Houston in my district. It is
responsible for 50 percent of the City of Houston's economy.
The Port of Houston exports more cargo than any other port in
the United States. Ninety-five percent of the world's consumers
live outside the United States, and the fastest-growing region
of the world is Africa, with a growth rate of 4.2 or 4.7
percent in 2012.
The Port of Houston and other facilities just like it are
hungry for more business and trade. If we want to grow the
American economy, exporting more goods and services has to be
part of the solution. Instead of tying up small businesses with
red tape, we need to free them up to reach growing markets. We
need to come along and help them identify export opportunities
abroad. No one can match the quality and innovation that we can
provide in this country.
H.R. 1409, the Export Promotion Reform Act, would give the
Secretary of Commerce 6 months to submit to Congress the
results of a global assessment of overseas markets. The report
would tell us which ones provide us with the best export
potential for Americans. After that, the Secretary will send
commercial service personnel to work with our diplomatic
personnel to reduce obstacles to U.S. exports and seal the
deal.
Last year, this very bill made it through the House with
unanimous support, only to get held up in the do-nothing
Senate. My amendment in the nature of a substitute,
incorporates language from Representative Sam Graves' H.R.
1909. The amendment says the Federal Government should let
businesses know when there are Federal- and State-led trade
missions so businesses can take advantage of those trade
missions. It also requires the seven different Federal agencies
in charge of export policy to tell us why all seven are needed,
and how they measure results. We need a more efficient and
streamlined approach when it comes to export policy.
In all, this bill will help grow the economy, create jobs,
and put money back in the pockets of Americans.
H.R. 1926 requires the Federal Government to work better
with the States on trade. It requires the Secretary of Commerce
to produce a State-by-State export strategy every year. That
strategy has to have reporting metrics so we can measure how
well we are doing. Mr. Chabot has worked on this bill to
produce a straightforward result.
To do trade well, you can't just have some grand national
policy. You have to get local. You have to talk to the
manufacturers, service providers, small business owners. By
getting the Federal Government to work closely with States, it
will increase efficiency and reduce duplication. Local
businesses will better understand export opportunities, have a
more targeted approach to potential markets, and create more
jobs as they grow.
This is why it matters. In 2011, over 40,000 companies
exported goods and services from just the State of Texas.
Ninety-three percent of those companies were small- and medium-
sized businesses, and they accounted for 30 percent of Texas'
total exports. In 2012, Texas' export shipments of merchandise
totalled $250 billion. Houston accounted for half of that.
While it is hard for any State to try to stack up, I think, to
the State of Texas, this goes to show how important exports are
to the economy.
If we can get the Federal Government to work closely with
the States, then all States win. Together, these bills will
help grow the economy, create jobs, put money back in the
pockets of Americans.
I now recognize the ranking member for 5 minutes.
Mr. Sherman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you
for calling this markup and urge my colleagues to support your
motion that we pass all the items on the agenda en bloc by
unanimous consent. I strongly support efforts to increase
exports, and believe that both bills under consideration,
including the Lowenthal amendment, will make important
contributions to our efforts to promote exports.
In a world with a perfectly free economy, the United States
would not be in the export promotion business, and no other
government would be in the export promotion business. But the
reality is far different. With our competitors doing far more
than we are to promote their exports, we need an effective
commercial diplomacy and other export promotion programs.
In my nearly 17 years on the committee, I have seen a
shocking difference between the attitude of our Diplomatic
Corps toward pushing American exports, where it seems to be
below getting more people to show up at the 4th of July party,
and the focus of foreign diplomatic corps, which seem to put
export promotion at the very top of their list.
The measures we have under consideration are long-
recommended changes to the operation and planning of the
multiagency Trade Promotion Coordination Committee, commonly
known as TPCC, and they provide for State promotion agencies,
State trade promotion agency representation on the TPCC, and
greater State participation in the TPCC's activities more
generally.
The GAO has recommended that our export promotion efforts
across disparate agencies involved be better coordinated,
better planned, and these measures will help implement those
recommendations, as well as ensure that State government
efforts to promote exports are part of the planning and
coordination process. I strongly support the measures being
adopted today and look forward to perfecting them at the full
committee.
I have agreed, of course, to co-sponsor them both. I know
that our colleague, Brad Schneider, the gentleman from
Illinois, has amendments that he will, in due time, put forward
as the process moves on, and these will also deserve all of our
support. At least, they will have my support.
I do want to take a brief opportunity to note that to
address our long-term chronic trade deficit we have to do more
than the very limited amount that we are talking about doing
here today. Since the 1970s, we have run larger and larger
trade deficits. We have eroded and decimated our manufacturing
base, shifted 1 million jobs overseas, and seen a depression of
domestic wages.
Export promotion is not the solution, or at best is a tiny
part of the solution. We need a completely different trade
policy. That will become apparent when the whole thing crashes,
because you can't run these trade deficits year after year
without eventually a crash similar to the one we faced in 2008.
Finally, I want to argue against a change being put forward
by some American corporations. They are lobbying to reduce the
domestic content requirement of Export-Import Bank financing.
While the Export-Import Bank is not under the jurisdiction of
this subcommittee or our full committee, it is the sister
agency of OPIC, which is an important part of our jurisdiction.
Currently, for most of its programs, Ex-Im Bank will
finance the lesser of 100 percent of the value of the American
content of an export, or 85 percent of the total export. There
are exceptions to this rule. There are those who want to weaken
the rule, and basically use U.S. taxpayer money to finance
goods that are not, for the most part, made in the United
States.
We can understand why individual companies would be
concerned chiefly at generating profitable business rather than
generating jobs in the United States, but the Ex-Im Bank is not
in the business of generating profits. It is in the business of
creating U.S. jobs. And I hope they keep that in mind.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back my time. But I am
sure I have exhausted it.
Mr. Poe. Thank you, Ranking Member. Does any other member
seek recognition?
The gentleman from California, Mr. Lowenthal, is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for including this
amendment today, and the ranking member for your support.
I would like to say, in 1992, the Congress enacted the
Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, the TPCC, to oversee
the 20 Federal export promotion programs which were spread
across the entire Federal Government. The TPCC membership is
currently drawn from Federal agencies with jurisdiction over
our interest in our trading relationships. My amendment would
add critical representation on the TPCC from State government
trade development agencies.
This is in furtherance of the goals of H.R. 1409, which are
to strengthen the coordination of programs, which will
hopefully increase U.S. exports and create jobs for American
workers.
Including State government representatives would have three
benefits: Improved efficiency, added State expertise, and
ultimately result in a better use of Federal funds.
On the efficiency front, virtually all States have agencies
to help companies increase exports. In this era of budgetary
constraints, maximizing coordination between the Federal and
State levels would increase the efficient use of all interested
parties in promoting exports.
With regard to the expertise of State export promotion
agencies, many States, such as my home State of California,
have extensive and sophisticated export development programs.
Under the California Economic Development Agency, there are 14
trade coordination offices that work closely with industry and
labor to sell more California products overseas. These agencies
have a lot to contribute to the Federal effort.
Finally, working with a constrained fiscal environment, we
must always look for ways to better use our Federal funds.
Every year, State export agencies receive some $30 million in
Federal funds, primarily from the Small Business
Administration, yet the programs supported by these funds are
not fully leveraged and coordinated with Federal export
programs.
This amendment would help solve the problem. The underlying
bill, H.R. 1409, together with these provisions added by
Chairman Poe and from Chairman Graves' bill, H.R. 1909, and
from Representative Chabot's bill, H.R. 1926, all fit together
and constitute a robust package of provisions to help our
exporters.
It is an important issue for me, as I represent the Port of
Long Beach. And the Port of Long Beach, along with the adjacent
Port of Los Angeles, is the busiest port complex in the United
States. I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment,
and I again want to thank Chairman Poe and the Ranking Member
Sherman for including the amendment in H.R. 1409, because I
believe it makes the bill better.
And I will yield back.
Mr. Sherman. So you are saying that the Long Beach and San
Pedro ports together are busier and handle more traffic than
the Houston port?
I yield back.
Mr. Poe. Did I say that? I don't recall. It must have been
something that just slipped from my lips.
I agree that the Houston port, I think, is the largest port
in the Gulf.
Mr. Lowenthal. As Long Beach would be the largest port in
California. [Laughter.]
Mr. Poe. Thank you. Does anybody else wish to speak?
[No response.]
Mr. Poe. Hearing no further requests for recognition, the
question occurs on adopting the items under consideration en
bloc. Those in favor, say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Mr. Poe. Those opposed, no.
[No response.]
Mr. Poe. In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and
the en bloc items are approved.
Without objection, the items in the bloc will be reported
favorably to the full committee. H.R. 1409 will be reported in
the form of a single amendment in the nature of a substitute,
incorporating the adopted amendments, and the staff is directed
to make any technical and conforming changes.
I want to thank all of our members and the staff for the
assistance and cooperation that went into today's markup. The
subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 2:34 p.m. the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the RecordNotice deg.
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