By Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
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| U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack |
Recently, both houses of Congress took action to support tens-of-thousands
of American jobs by ratifying trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and
Panama, as well as passing trade adjustment assistance to help train workers
for the 21st century economy. And last week, the President signed
them.
These agreements are a win for the American economy. For American
agriculture, their passage will mean over $2.3 billion in additional exports,
supporting nearly 20,000 jobs here at home for folks who package, ship, and
market agricultural products.
That’s why President Obama made these trade deals a key part of his jobs
agenda. And once they are implemented, they’ll level the playing field
for America's farmers, ranchers and growers. They’ll open up
opportunities for our businesses and immediately secure new markets as the
majority of American products exported to Korea, Colombia and Panama become
duty-free.
These trade agreements help build on the success story of American
agriculture – already a bright spot in the American economy – by continuing
record exports that support more than a million jobs here at home.
In the past months, I’ve crisscrossed the United States talking about trade
and another opportunity for Congress to create jobs for the American people
—President Obama’s American Jobs Act. The bill would cut taxes for small
business owners and middle-class Americans. Private forecasts suggest it
would put 1.9 million people back to work next year.
Right now, Congress is looking at the bill piece-by-piece, starting with a
proposal to prevent teacher layoffs, keep police officers on the beat and keep
firefighters on the job. $35 billion in assistance to states would
support nearly 400,000 educator jobs – keeping teachers in the classroom.
And it would keep cops and fire fighters in place to protect our
communities.
In the same way that they supported trade deals to create jobs and help
agriculture, I know that members of Congress can step up and take action to
pass the American Jobs Act.
If we’re going to get Americans working again, folks in Washington DC need
to come together and find solutions that work for everyone to build our economy
that makes, creates, and innovates products that the rest of the world needs
and wants. In doing so, America can be an exporting nation – a key to
rebuilding America’s middle class.
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