House Ways and Means Committee to Hold Hearing on President's Trade Agenda
Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, has announced that the Committee will hold a hearing on President Bush's trade agenda on February 15, 2006, in room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building at 1:30 p.m. The sole witness at the hearing will be U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. Individuals or organizations may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
The hearing is expected to examine current trade-related issues, including the prospect for trade expansion in agriculture, industrial goods, and services through multilateral negotiations in the WTO; the recently concluded FTAs with Oman and Peru; other FTAs that are currently being negotiated or have been notified by the President; management of bilateral trade disputes and concerns; ongoing negotiations with several countries seeking to accede to the WTO; compliance with WTO dispute settlement decisions; and other trade issues.