Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment to H.R. 1295 - The Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, let me just thank Representative Rangel, a real leader and long-time supporter of AGOA, and Representative Karen Bass for their leadership on these issues.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1295, to Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment to the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015.

This bipartisan bill provides for a long-term extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), renews the Generalized System of Preferences, and extends the HOPE and HELP programs for products from Haiti until 2025.
And as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I know just how important these types of programs are to the U.S.-African relationship and to countries like Haiti.

As my colleagues have stated, AGOA has been a cornerstone of the U.S.-African relationship and has resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs--in Africa and the United States. With continued support for AGOA, we also have the potential to increase small-and-medium businesses between U.S. and African jobs.

Let me also just mention just how important the extension of the HOPE and HELP programs included in this bill are to Haiti. These programs have had a tremendous effect on Haiti's economy. Haiti's textile sector has made great progress in recent years, increasing production by 5.84% and increasing jobs by 15% in 2014 alone.

And as the author of the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act, which was passed into law last year, I know we need to do everything we can to continue to support programs that would aid its economic recovery--particularly after the devastating earthquake in 2010.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

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