WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- "The Senate took an important step today in advancing a trade agenda that will promote economic growth and U.S. jobs,” said John Engler, President of Business Roundtable (BRT). “We appreciate the bipartisan vote that led to today’s passage of legislation to enact Trade Adjustment Assistance and the Generalized System of Preferences. Bipartisan votes are also there for passage of the pending free trade agreements.”

“We hope that the House will quickly pass this legislation, and that the White House will submit the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea so Congress can pass them. American workers and the U.S. economy cannot wait any longer for the estimated 250,000 U.S. jobs and the estimated $13 billion in U.S. exports these three agreements will produce. The United States also cannot afford to fall even further behind our foreign competitors who have already completed trade agreements with these markets."

Business Roundtable (BRT) is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with over $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 14 million employees. BRT member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock market and invest more than $150 billion annually in research and development – nearly half of all private U.S. R&D spending. Our companies pay $163 billion in dividends to shareholders and generate an estimated $420 billion in sales for small and medium-sized businesses annually.

BRT companies give nearly $9 billion a year in combined charitable contributions.

Please visit us at www.brt.org, check us out on Facebook and LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter.

CONTACT:

Business Roundtable
Kirk Monroe, 202-496-3269

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  District of Columbia

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Public Policy/Government  Congressional News/Views  Public Policy  White House/Federal Government

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