For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 17, 2005
President Honors Ambassador Portman at Swearing-In Ceremony
Presidential Hall
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building
2:34 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. I'm pleased to
congratulate a distinguished public servant, Rob Portman, on becoming
our new United States Trade Representative.
It's an honor to be with Rob's dad, as well as Jane and Jed and
Will and Sally. Glad you all are here. It's always great when our
Trade Representative has teenagers in the house. (Laughter.) It helps
him become a skilled negotiator. (Laughter.) I appreciate the other
members of the Portman family who have joined us.
I thank members of my Cabinet who are here -- Josh Bolten, thank
you for coming. I appreciate Peter Allgeier, who is the Deputy U.S.
Trade Minister. Peter, good to see you, sir. I want to thank the
members of Congress who came -- David Camp from Michigan, Paul Ryan
from Wisconsin -- and Janna. I appreciate -- I'm not through yet.
(Laughter.) And Melissa Hart. Rick Lazio, former member, thank you
for coming.
I want to thank the ambassadors who are here, Diplomatic Corps --
embajadores de Central America, as well as other ambassadors --
welcome.
Ambassador Portman will be carrying on the superb work done by Bob
Zoellick. Under Ambassador Zoellick's outstanding leadership, the U.S.
Trade Representative's Office has worked with Congress to pass trade
promotion authority. We've completed free trade agreements with twelve
nations on five continents. And those agreements will open a combined
market of 124 million consumers for America's farmers, small businesses
and manufacturers. I want to thank all the men and women at the USTR
for the good work they have done.
Ambassador Portman is the right man to carry on this important
work. He has a great record as a champion of free and fair trade. In
his early days as an attorney, he specialized in international trade
law. Throughout his time in Congress, he built a reputation as a
steadfast proponent of the power of open markets to spread hope and
prosperity around the world. As an Ohioan, Rob knows how much American
farmers and workers depend on our export markets and how the expansion
of agreements around the world can contribute to our economy here at
home.
To advance our trade agenda, we have three priorities in the months
ahead. Our first trade priority is to pass the Central American and
Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA. That is an
important priority of this administration, and it should be an
important priority of the United States Congress. Last week I met with
the six Presidents from the nations. We all share an interest in
prosperity for our people and peace in the region, and CAFTA gives us
an historic opportunity to advance these common goals.
The agreement does four key things: It will level the playing
field for American farmers and businesses. It will help our economy.
It will make the region more competitive with Asia. And it will
strengthen democracy in our backyard. At the moment, about 80 percent
of imports from the region already enter the United States duty-free.
Our market is open to the goods from CAFTA nations. CAFTA will open
the region's markets of 44 million consumers to our goods and our
services and our crops. CAFTA will also lower barriers in key segments
like textiles. This would put CAFTA countries and America in a better
position to compete with low-cost producers in Asia.
As it opens the Western Hemisphere markets, CAFTA will also bring
the stability and security that can only come from freedom. Today, a
part of the world that was once characterized by unrest and
dictatorship now sees its future in free elections and free trade, and
we must not take these gains for granted. These are small nations,
but they are making big and brave commitments, and America needs to
continue to support them as they walk down the road of openness and
accountability. By transforming our hemisphere into a powerful free
trade area, we will promote democratic governance and human rights and
the economic liberty for everyone. CAFTA is a really important piece
of legislation.
Our second trade priority is to encourage the Doha Development
Agenda now being pursued by the World Trade Organization. This new
framework is the largest negotiation of its kind in history, and it
would reduce and eliminate tariffs in key industry sectors, and
unfair agricultural subsidies, and open the global market in services.
Finally, our third trade priority is to ensure that those who sign
trade agreements live up to their terms. China's membership in the
World Trade Organization has been a good thing for America. Our
exports to China have increased 81 percent since China's entry into the
WTO. When it joined the WTO, China also agreed to the rules of
international trade, and it's in the interest of both China and the
United States for China to abide by them.
One reason I selected Ambassador Portman for this job is because I
know he'll work to see that our farmers and our workers and service
providers are treated fairly. Ambassador Portman will work to ensure
that China stops the piracy of U.S. intellectual property, lifts the
barriers that are keeping our goods and services out of China, and
demonstrates its commitment to transparency and distribution rights for
our products.
America is a nation founded on the idea of open exchange, and free
and fair trade is a win-win for all sides. By opening new markets,
we'll increase prosperity for our small businesses and farmers and
manufacturers, and create jobs for American workers. By enforcing
trade laws and agreements, we will ensure a level playing field for
America's workers. American workers can compete with anybody, any
time, anywhere when the rules are fair.
Rob Portman is America's Trade Representative; he's also my
friend. I know his integrity and his wisdom and his dedication. And I
know he's the right man to carry out our bold agenda at this important
moment for world trade.
I want to thank you all again for coming. Congratulations, Rob.
(Applause.)
AMBASSADOR PORTMAN: Thank you all. And thank you, Mr. President,
for those remarks, and for the extraordinary opportunity that you've
given me to be able to make a positive difference in people's lives
through promoting that very ambitious trade agenda you just outlined.
And I want to thank Andy Card, my dear friend and the Chief of Staff,
for being willing to swear me in today. In the first Bush
administration, I had the pleasure of working under Mr. Card, and I now
have the opportunity to work with him again, and I look forward to it.
I'm so glad that so many friends and family are able to be here
today, Mr. President. This is a neat opportunity for me to be able to
say thank you to so many of them. I'm particularly grateful, of
course, to my family -- my wife Jane, our three kids, Jed, Will and
Sally. And per your comments about negotiations, let me tell you,
these three are superb negotiators. (Laughter.) I just hope I'm half
as good at negotiating access for U.S. products as I am, and have
become, on allowances and curfews. (Laughter.) If I'm that good, I'll
do a good job for you.
I'm grateful to my family because they have allowed me to pursue
the privilege of public service, despite the sacrifices, but even more
grateful that they've encouraged me and supported me in this. They've
all given this job their blessing. Will Portman has taken to calling
me TROTUS -- Trade Representative of the United States. (Laughter.)
Jane has become the First Lady of Trade. And I'm very, very proud of
them.
I'm also glad my dad was able to be here today. He's also been
very encouraging of my work in public service even though he's a small
business guy. He started a business from scratch and taught us the
values of hard work and ethics. And I'm delighted he's here today.
And, of course, the same is true of my brother, Win, who's here, and my
sister, Jenna, and their wonderful families who have also joined us.
I also see I've got some constituents here from back home, Mr.
President, and it's great to have them here. My friends from Ohio who
have gathered for this special day are the people who gave me the
opportunity to serve in Congress, and gave me the opportunity now to be
able to serve our nation in this capacity. I will be forever grateful
to them.
Finally, I want to acknowledge my congressional staff -- the most
incredible staff, the best on the Hill -- and my colleagues who are
here. I see these three colleagues that you mentioned earlier -- all
three of them. (Laughter.) And there are others who are going to join
us at the reception. They're from both Houses and both parties, and
they are good friends. And I will be seeing lots of them, because, as
this last couple of weeks has taught me, I'll be spending a lot of time
on Capitol Hill, and I look forward to that.
In the last two weeks, in fact, Mr. President, my team and I have
been very busy. In fact, the day after I was confirmed, you sent me on
a plane for Europe where I met with trade ministers from all around the
world. And there, I worked with our trade partners to rejuvenate the
ongoing global negotiations you just talked about, called the Doha
Development Agenda. By reducing barriers to trade across the board,
Doha has the potential to substantially expand U.S. exports and also to
spread hope and opportunity to the developing world. And when we were
in Europe 10 days ago, we were able to make a major breakthrough to be
sure that that Doha Development Agenda continues on track.
Doha talks are one part of a more comprehensive trade agenda that I
will pursue, as the President has laid out: First, to expand export
opportunities by opening markets around the world; second, to be sure
that we are enforcing our trade agreements and our trade laws; and
third, to spread economic and political freedom. By opening new
markets for American workers and farmers, we create more and
better-paying jobs right here at home. In fact, over 12 million
American jobs now are supported by exports, and those jobs pay about 15
percent higher than the average wage. One in every three acres of
American farmland is planted for export, and one in every five
manufacturing jobs in this country is dependent on the export of our
products.
Our first opportunity to open new markets is the Central American
and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. It's a classic win-win
situation. We have the opportunity here to open new markets for our
workers, for our farmers, for our service providers, while, at the same
time, leveling the playing field with a region that already enjoys
mostly duty-free access to the United States. At the same time, we can
help lift people out of poverty in Central America and the Dominican
Republic, and we can help solidify those fragile democracies and
staunch allies.
This is a situation where the Congress should have an incentive to
move, and move quickly, to approve the agreement, because it's good for
our workers and farmers, service providers, and it's also good for
those countries. If we turn down this agreement, we are taking away
opportunities for our workers, and we are turning our backs on good
neighbors who need our help.
Opening new markets is critical, but we must also ensure that our
trading partners play by the rules. To ensure that, I will use all the
tools available to us. This includes consultation and negotiation,
but, when appropriate, it also means taking legal action to enforce our
rights and to defend American interests.
A top priority of mine will be China. The President already
mentioned this and I concur with him that China's entry into the WTO
was, and remains, in the best interests of the United States. It
brought China into a rules-based system, which is very important. It
also allowed us to significantly expand U.S. exports, good and
services. But our trade relationship with China also presents
challenges. We face a trade deficit that is too high, in part because
the Chinese do not always play by the rules. I have already begun a
top-to-bottom review of China trade issues, and I will work closely
with Congress to see that American workers, farmers and businesses are
treated fairly.
Finally, Mr. President, as you articulate better than anyone, trade
is central to our freedom agenda. Freer trade means more open,
transparent markets, undercuts corruption and cronyism, promotes
prosperity. In doing so, it deepens the roots of democracy.
As a former congressman, I know that economic change and foreign
competition can be difficult for people. We cannot ignore these
concerns. But we also cannot retreat to economic isolationism. The
evidence is overwhelming that free and fair trade is in the best
interest of our economy and makes Americans better off. I believe the
right way forward is smart economic engagement, opening markets, tough
enforcement, and using trade as a powerful weapon to spread freedom.
Mr. President, you have a great team of dedicated professionals as
USTR, some of whom are here today, and I am very proud to follow my
friend, Bob Zoellick, in joining them to promote your ambitious
agenda.
I thank you for the trust you've show in me and for this
opportunity to serve. I will give you and the American people my very
best. Thank you.
END 2:49 P.M. EDT
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