Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statements in reaction to the announcement that the leadership in the U.S. Senate has agreed to a process forward on the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea: 
 
Chairman Camp:  “Today’s agreement on a path forward in the Senate brings us one step closer toward enacting the long-pending, job-creating trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.  Every day that goes by, we lose more export and job opportunities to our European and Canadian counterparts, who have already entered into agreements with these countries.   Washington must act and act now; we cannot afford to let these trade agreements languish any longer.  As we’ve said repeatedly, the House is prepared to act on the three pending trade agreements and on Trade Adjustment Assistance, and I urge the Senate and the White House to be ready to walk down the path announced today in September.”

Trade Subcommittee Chairman Brady: “This long-awaited Senate agreement paves the way forward for long overdue action.  The agreements have the ability to add 250,000 U.S. jobs and $10 billion to our economy, and they level the playing field for American workers, farmers, and businesses.  Inaction on these agreements has cost us dearly in lost exports and lost jobs.  Reports show that EU exports to South Korea are already up nearly 20 percent in the handful of weeks since that agreement entered into force.  It is time to move.”