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Rob Portman on Free TradeFormer Republican Representative (OH-2, 2006-2007) |
Ambassador Portman is the right man to carry on this important work. He has a great record as a champion of free and fair trade. In his early days as an attorney, he specialized in international trade law. Throughout his time in Congress, he built a reputation as a steadfast proponent of the power of open markets to spread hope and prosperity around the world. As an Ohioan, Rob knows how much American farmers and workers depend on our export markets and how the expansion of agreements around the world can contribute to our economy here at home.
This is a situation where the Congress should have an incentive to move, and move quickly, to approve the agreement, because it's good for our workers & farmers, service providers, and it's also good for those countries. If we turn down this agreement, we are taking away opportunities for our workers, and we are turning our backs on good neighbors who need our help.
The mission of the Cato Institute Center for Trade Policy Studies is to increase public understanding of the benefits of free trade and the costs of protectionism.
The Cato Trade Center focuses not only on U.S. protectionism, but also on trade barriers around the world. Cato scholars examine how the negotiation of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade agreements can reduce trade barriers and provide institutional support for open markets. Not all trade agreements, however, lead to genuine liberalization. In this regard, Trade Center studies scrutinize whether purportedly market-opening accords actually seek to dictate marketplace results, or increase bureaucratic interference in the economy as a condition of market access.
Studies by Cato Trade Center scholars show that the United States is most effective in encouraging open markets abroad when it leads by example. The relative openness and consequent strength of the U.S. economy already lend powerful support to the worldwide trend toward embracing open markets. Consistent adherence by the United States to free trade principles would give this trend even greater momentum. Thus, Cato scholars have found that unilateral liberalization supports rather than undermines productive trade negotiations.
Scholars at the Cato Trade Center aim at nothing less than changing the terms of the trade policy debate: away from the current mercantilist preoccupation with trade balances, and toward a recognition that open markets are their own reward.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.
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| Other candidates on Free Trade: | Rob Portman on other issues: | ||
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OH Gubernatorial: Ted Strickland OH Senatorial: George Voinovich Sherrod Brown Democratic retirements & special elections: D,AL-5:Cramer D,CA-12:Lantos D,CO-2:Udall D,IN-7:Carson D,NY-21:McNulty D,ME-1:Allen D,MD-4:Wynn D,NM-3:Udall D,OR-5:Hooley Republican special elections: R,IL-14:Hastert R,LA-1:Jindal R,LA-6:Baker R,MS-1:Wicker R,OH-5:Gillmor |
Republican retirements:
R,AL-2:Everett R,AZ-1:Renzi R,CA-4:Doolittle R,CA-52:Hunter R,CO-6:Tancredo R,FL-15:Weldon R,IL-11:Weller R,IL-18:LaHood R,KY-2:Lewis R,LA-4:McCrery R,MD-1:Gilchrest R,MN-3:Ramstad R,MO-9:Hulshof R,MS-3:Pickering R,NJ-3:Saxton R,NJ-7:Ferguson R,NM-1:Wilson R,NM-2:Pearce R,NY-13:Fossella R,NY-25:Walsh R,NY-26:Reynolds R,OH-7:Hobson R,OH-15:Pryce R,OH-16:Regula R,PA-5:Peterson R,VA-11:Davis R,WY-0:Cubin |
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