Washington, DC – Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statement after President Obama transmitted to Congress the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea:

Chairman Camp stated: “The American people have waited a long time for these job-creating trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, and I am pleased that the President is submitting them to Congress.  These agreements will increase U.S. exports of goods and services and support much-needed jobs – up to 250,000 U.S. jobs using the President’s own metric.  Best of all, they do not require any new government spending.  To ensure that we do not have to wait any longer for the benefits of these agreements, I will hold a markup of the implementing bills at the Ways & Means Committee this Wednesday so that they can be considered as soon as possible by the full House.  The agreements enjoy broad bipartisan, bicameral support and have been delayed for too long.  Further delay will only postpone the economic benefits of these agreements and cost Americans jobs as we continue to lose ground to foreign competitors who have already implemented their trade agreements with our partners.”   

Chairman Brady stated:  “Today’s submission of the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea is welcome news for the U.S. economy.  These agreements have been unnecessarily delayed for far too long – to the detriment of U.S. businesses, workers, farmers, and ranchers.  Moving forward immediately with these trade agreements is critical to U.S. economic growth and job creation.  I hope that implementation of these bipartisan agreements will also signal clearly America’s commitment to a robust international trade agenda.”