FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Good evening. It's a pleasure to be with you all here tonight.

This city - and the world - are very different tonight than we expected them to be when this dinner was first planned. When I received your invitation to join you, I welcomed the opportunity to talk about the importance of trade in promoting growth and prosperity at home and around the world. I was eager to talk about the role of trade in developing economies, bringing opportunities to people who live in poverty and hopelessness. I was going to repeat what so many of you already know - that the President must have Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in order to lower trade barriers and create jobs here at home; that export industry jobs pay above-average wages; and that the average American family of four stands to gain $2,500 annually if we can reduce trade barriers around the world by one-third.

Now, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, all those facts remain true. But they are dwarfed by the other factors that make TPA even more crucial today than it was 8 weeks ago.

The world has rallied in response to President Bush's leadership since September 11. First, he set the goal of disrupting terrorist financing. He signed an executive order empowering the Treasury Department to identify those who fund terrorism, block their assets, and seek cooperation in the effort from nations around the world. The ink was barely dry on the Order before Finance Ministers from around the world were calling me to ask how they could help. To date, 144 nations have committed to the global effort to tear down the financial infrastructure of terrorism. The world responded to President Bush's leadership.

Cooperation in the financial war is but one part of the global coalition the President has put together. Secretary Powell and Secretary Rumsfeld visited nations around the world to ensure a united front against the terrorists who seek to destroy the freedoms that are the foundation of the civilized world.

This unprecedented international cooperation reflects the fact that the nations of the world are more interconnected than ever before. We cannot defeat global terrorism alone - we must engage the world in our efforts to ensure that nowhere can terrorists find a safe harbor.

Just as all nations must work together to defeat global terrorism, all nations must work together to combat the current global economic slowdown. For much of the last decade, the United States was the engine that drove world economic growth. One nation cannot create global prosperity alone. Now that we have seen our economy slow for the last year, there is no locomotive for the world economy.

Now is the time to pass Trade Promotion Authority. Just as President Bush's leadership has created a global effort to defeat terrorism, his leadership on trade will create a global effort to spread prosperity. Denying the President TPA takes away his ability to lead. President Bush must have TPA so he can lead a global effort to bring down trade barriers and expand the flow of goods, services, knowledge and ideas to people everywhere.

You and your companies operate in cities around the globe. You know the power these operations have to bring knowledge and opportunity to people who don't have that today. When US firms open operations abroad, they bring with them the values that make them good companies here at home: respect for the safety, creativity and intelligence of their workers. As those ideas spread throughout the world, individuals everywhere become more empowered to speak up, to innovate, and to respect each other. As trade flows from nation to nation, ideas of freedom, creativity, and tolerance are part of the packaging.

And we learn at home, too. Trade helps our domestic productivity. Expanding global trade allows the most efficient producers to grow because selling goods in the competitive international marketplace demands higher productivity. Competition makes every firm seek to catch up with the best firm in the industry - and it keeps the best firms constantly seeking to become better. Truly international markets bring the best ideas in the world together in one place, for the benefit of people everywhere.

The time has come to provide the President with the tools he needs to lead the world to higher living standards and greater freedom. The world looks to the United States for leadership, and we must be a leader in global trade. To assure our continued leadership and our prosperity, Congress needs to pass Trade Promotion Authority.