Isakson Calls on President Obama to Send Long-Standing Free Trade Agreements to Congress for Approval

Sep 07, 2011

WASHINGTON – In advance of President Obama’s Thursday speech on job creation, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today joined nearly a dozen Republican senators in calling on President Obama to send Congress the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. The senators stated that by passing the trade agreements, Congress would promote private-sector job growth without adding to the national debt.

In order for Congress to vote to approve the free trade agreements, the President must first send them to Congress. President Obama has yet to act on the long-standing agreements in the three years since he took the oath of office.

“There is one person in America who is stopping job creation by not letting these bills come to the floor of the House and Senate and that is the President of the United States,” said Isakson, who serves on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. “It is my hope that the President will focus on creating real jobs now. The American people cannot wait until after November 2012 for job growth. Georgia’s unemployment rate alone is over 10 percent. If we pass these free trade agreements, unemployment in Georgia will go down and we will have more prosperity.”

According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the three trade agreements could increase U.S. exports by more than $12 billion. The Congressional Research Service predicts that the South Korea agreement alone would create 280,000 American jobs.