[CTC] U.S. Chamber kicks off effort to move Korea FTA

[Andrew Gussert]

Obama recess appointments include help for trade ambassador Ron Kirk

Saturday, March 27, 2010

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032710dnna
tobamaappointments.1ecb149e6.html

By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
tgillman at dallasnews.com 

WASHINGTON - Among the 15 recess appointments President Barack Obama issued
on Saturday were two key trade officials, filling a vacuum that U.S. Trade
Representative Ron Kirk - the former Dallas mayor - has complained about. 

Until now, the United States has lacked a trade negotiator in Geneva,
headquarters of the World Trade Organization, and a chief agriculture
negotiator - hampering export promotion and leaving trading partners to
wonder about the U.S. commitment to the WTO, Kirk said at a recent National
Press Club luncheon. 

"At some point, this begins to strain our credibility and the good will that
we have worked so hard to regenerate around the world, because the world
believes you don't care. You don't have an ambassador in Geneva, how can you
be serious about the Doha Round?" Kirk said. 

Kirk may have had some inkling that Obama was planning to send him help
during the Easter recess. 

"March Madness is absolutely my favorite time of the year," Kirk said at the
Press Club on March 9. "I live for this. But none of you would want to coach
a basketball team in which three, four of your star players are told that
they have to sit out of the game for no reason. Their grades are fine, they
don't have an injury, they haven't violated any rules. But, because of the
unique wonders of our Senate parliamentary procedures, we don't have an
ambassador in Geneva, although he has been approved by the Senate Finance
Committee. We don't have an agricultural ambassador." 

During a congressional recess, presidents are allowed to circumvent the
Senate confirmation process by naming officials on an interim basis. The
White House cited "Republican obstruction" that has left important posts
vacant for months. At least one - for the National Labor Relations Board -
faced stiff resistance in business circles. 

The trade picks were apparently less controversial. 

For deputy trade representative to serve in Geneva, Obama named Michael
Punke, a former Clinton aide and, before that, a trade adviser to Sen. Max
Baucus, D-Mont., who now chairs the committee that oversees trade. Since
January, Punke has served as a consultant to the U.S. Trade Representative. 

As chief agricultural negotiator, Obama installed Islam Siddiqui, who served
in the Clinton USDA, spent 28 years at the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, and is currently an executive at CropLife America. 

Underscoring the priority he's putting on export growth to boost the
economy, Obama also named an undersecretary of Commerce for international
trade, Francisco Sanchez. 

He also filled a post of keen interest in Texas and Mexico, naming Alan
Bersin as commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. That's part of the
Homeland Security Department, where Bersin is currently an assistant
secretary and "border czar." 

 

 

Andrew Gussert
Director, Citizens Trade Campaign
1150  17th  Street N.W., Suite 300
Washington, D.C.  20036

 

Cell#:  202.494.8826
Fax#:  202.293.5308
 <http://www.citizenstrade.org> www.citizenstrade.org

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