Iowa’s pork industry highlights trade issues

“Amazingly, the Speaker of the House is blocking a vote in Congress that would open vast new markets for Iowa products,” said Congressman Latham. “The Speaker should immediately move Congress on the Columbia Free Trade Agreement, the Korean Free Trade Agreement and the Panama Trade Agreement. There is no for reason American products, like Iowa’s pork and so many other products produced throughout our state, should be penalised by our own government when working with these nations. We need the Speaker to deal with theses issues, and we need her to do it now.”

Iowa’s pork industry, as well as many other Iowa industries, stands to gain economically with these treaties. “In a time of economic uncertainty, with recent bailouts amidst thousands of layoffs, it is imperative that the Speaker allow for these trade agreements to be addressed by the House of Representatives. The Speaker can no longer block American progress.

Her reluctance to acknowledge these agreements and the prosperity they would create in Iowa and the rest of the country has caused the 110th Congress to be one of the least active and most obstructive Congresses in American history. The Speaker needs to call action on these agreements, and she needs to call for it now.”

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