SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT REGARDING TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY LEGISLATION

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
April 16, 2015

Our nation’s prosperity and security are linked to the entire world. The introduction of the Trade Promotion Authority legislation today in Congress marks an important step in promoting both of those vital interests at the same time we create jobs at home and markets abroad.

I applaud Chairman Orrin Hatch, Ranking Member Ron Wyden, and Chairman Paul Ryan for providing a framework that would allow the United States and its global partners to complete two of the most significant trade agreements in the history of our country, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) that together will encompass nearly two-thirds of the global economy.

When I was in the Senate, I consistently supported free trade agreements because I know that investment, innovation, and trade are not just the drivers of a strong economy, they are engines of a strong society. And today, as Secretary of State, I am even more convinced that these agreements enhance our American leadership in an interconnected world.

TPP and T-TIP are critical to American economic security, supporting higher paying jobs here at home while leveling the playing field for U.S. businesses abroad. TPP and T-TIP are vital to our national interests by cementing our ties to strategically vital regions and raising standards that are essential to American ideals and ingenuity, including strong environmental protections, high labor standards, a free and open internet, protection of intellectual property rights, and transparency. These agreements will also support U.S. leadership in establishing rules for the global system consistent with America’s longstanding commitment to democracy, freedom, open markets, and the rule of law.

I also welcome the introduction of legislation renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of Preferences, which have been powerful drivers of global development and pillars of our economic and trade engagement with the developing world.

The United States must remain a leader in global trade, and not run the risk of being left on the sidelines while others set the course. I urge Congress to pass TPA without delay.

READOUT: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CALL WITH EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT TUSK

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
December 01, 2014
Readout of the President's Call with European Council President Donald Tusk

President Obama called President Donald Tusk today to congratulate him on his first day as President of the European Council.  President Obama underscored the importance of continued U.S.-EU cooperation and noted the need for policy action to strengthen European economic growth.  The two leaders affirmed their determination to achieve an ambitious and comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) agreement.  They also reiterated the U.S. and EU commitment to work with international financial institutions to provide the financial support Ukraine needs as it stabilizes its economy, implements necessary reforms, and seeks to resolve the conflict in the eastern part of the country.   They agreed that sanctions against Russia cannot be eased until Russia meets its commitments under the Minsk agreements, and reiterated the joint U.S. and EU condemnation of Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea.  The leaders assessed what further actions may be necessary in response to Russia’s destabilizing actions in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.  They also discussed combined efforts to support governments in western Africa as they seek to arrest the spread of Ebola, provide treatment to those infected, and partner on global health security. 

REMARKS: PRESIDENT OBAMA AND POLAND'S PRIME MINISTER TUSK

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Tusk of Poland

Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Warsaw, Poland

2:25 P.M. CET

PRIME MINISTER TUSK:  (As interpreted.)  Mr. President, I’m very happy that again here in Warsaw we had the opportunity to talk about Polish-American relations.  And with great satisfaction, I observed that so much has changed around us, but our relations and the nature of our relations remain the same -- it remains so very good and of such fundamental significance as it was in the past when we spoke for the first time.

It was no coincidence in the fact that we began our meeting with my thanks to the very speedy and also very effective reaction of the United States to the Ukrainian crisis.  And we’re talking about the American reaction to the very situation in the region, but also in terms of support for Poland, which is both political -- and we do remember that on this key day, when Crimea was subject to annexation, we remember the visit of Vice President Biden here to Warsaw, but we also highly appreciate your practical decisions about the support given to the Polish defense capabilities.  And for that we’re truly thankful, because that’s not always so frequent in contemporary times.

We’ve exchanged information of our strategic cooperation.  I informed Mr. President about our readiness and something that President Komorowski has also mentioned about our readiness to strengthen the Polish defense capabilities.  We will also try to convince our European allies -- also at the meeting at the NATO Summit in Wales – we’ll try to convince them to a common European effort for a common European defense and solidarity.

It was with great satisfaction that we welcome the announcement of Mr. President about the readiness to increase the engagement and the plus-billion dollars dedicated to this part of the world.  It was also with satisfaction that I heard from Mr. President this is just another step and that this is not the end, and that in terms of the strategic perspective we will continue to talk about the evermore intense cooperation and presence in this part of Europe -- the presence of NATO in this part of Europe.

Our relations really, really do not require any repair, so we really did not have the need to talk about Polish-American relations.  But our opinions about Ukraine and the situation in the entire region, and also in terms of energy cooperation, these opinions are in line.  I’ve informed Mr. President about our Polish mission of the European energy union so as to increase the independence of Europe in terms of a single energy supply point.  And I think that is also a domain where we see possibilities of practical cooperation.  And I’m very happy that Mr. President has also declared his personal engagement so as to increase this possibility of energy diversification in Europe.

Again, thank you very much, Mr. President.  I did say at the beginning that a friend in need is a friend indeed.  And I reiterate I’m sure that the experiences of recent months and also our talks here on the symbolic date of our 25th anniversary of freedom, these talks were not just symbolic and were not referring to the history.  And I think that this is the most important thing in our relations -- that we appreciate the same values and we like the same symbols, but at the same time we both want to go in the similar direction.  And the United States is the best partner we could ever imagine.

Thank you so very much, Mr. President. 

And now, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Dzień dobry.  I want to thank you, Prime Minister Tusk, for your warm welcome.  It’s good to be back in this hall.  I’ve said a lot today already about why we think Poland is so important, why the alliance between the United States and Poland is so important, but perhaps during my remarks here I can say a little bit about why the economic progress that we’ve seen in Poland is so important.  Economic growth wasn’t inevitable just because Poland achieved its political freedom.  It wasn’t easy.  Reforms here in Poland have been hard and have not been without sacrifice.  But as you drive through Warsaw, you see that Poland is a country on the move, one with one of the largest and fastest-growing economies in Europe, a manufacturing powerhouse, and a hub of high-tech innovation. 

In fact, the last time I was here, Donald gave me a gift -- the video game developed here in Poland that’s won fans the world over, “The Witcher.”  I confess, I’m not very good at video games, but I’ve been told that it is a great example of Poland’s place in the new global economy and it’s a tribute to the talents and the work ethic of the Polish people, as well as the wise stewardship of Polish leaders, like Prime Minister Tusk.

As I did with President Komorowski, I reiterated to the Prime Minister our rock-solid commitment to Poland’s security, outlined for him the announcement I made earlier today about bolstering security to our NATO allies in Eastern Europe, and made clear that the United States is ready to deepen our defense cooperation as Poland modernizes its military.

As the Prime Minister indicated, we spent a lot of time on Ukraine.  Mr. Prime Minister, you’ve been a strong voice in conveying Poland’s solidarity to the Ukrainian people.  And Poland has been a great partner to Ukrainian civil society groups, and Polish diplomacy has played a critical role earlier this year in preventing even more violence. 

Poland is joining us in providing Ukraine with critical economic assistance.  And my conversation with the Prime Minister illustrated again that our countries are absolutely united in the need to stand with the Ukrainian people as they move forward, and that is not just with respect to their territorial integrity and security, but also with respect to the kinds of economic reforms that are going to be needed. 

As Ukrainians undertake the hard work of political and economic reform, Poland is going to have an important role to play in sharing the lessons of its own success, as Poland has with other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Europe and around the world. 

And one of the areas we discussed was energy.  Obviously, this has created significant vulnerabilities throughout Europe, particularly Eastern and Central Europe.  And we highlighted the need for greater energy security in Europe, which Prime Minister Tusk has championed, but we also agreed that it’s going to be critical for Ukraine to embark on effective efforts to reform its energy sector and diversify its supply of natural gas.  Just to give one example, Ukraine’s economy requires about three times as much energy to produce the same amount of output as Poland’s does.  And it’s very hard for Ukraine then to be competitive and to be successful if, in fact, it is that inefficient when it comes to energy.  So these are areas where I think we can make great progress.  Donald’s ideas on how Europe can reduce its energy risks by diversifying, investing in renewables, and upgrading energy infrastructure are ones that I think are important for everybody to listen to.

Poland is, for example, making an important investment that will allow the world’s liquefied natural gas, LNG, to travel to Europe.  For our part, the United States has already approved licenses for natural gas exports, which will increase global supplies and thereby benefit partners here in Europe.  I also mentioned to the Prime Minister the importance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, T-TIP, the trade agreement that we are negotiating currently between the United States and Europe.

Poland has been a supporter of an ambitious T-TIP agreement.  And I indicated to him one of the benefits of a strong trade agreement is that it is much easier for me to approve natural gas exports to countries with which we already have a free trade agreement. 

So, last point -- we discussed in the context of energy the issue of climate change.  The United States just took major steps to propose new standards that would result in significant reductions in carbon emissions from our power plants.  This has to be a global effort.  Poland hosted a successful U.N. climate summit conference last year.  As we work to shape a strong global climate agreement this year -- or next year, rather -- it’s important for the United States and the EU to set an example by committing to ambitious goals to reduce emissions beyond 2020.  And if we’re thinking seriously about energy diversification, energy efficiency, we can combine those two efforts in ways that make us not only more politically secure and economically secure but also more environmentally secure. 
                                            
So let me just thank once again Prime Minister Tusk for his outstanding leadership, and let me thank the Polish people for their outstanding example.  I’m confident that the friendship that we’ve established over the years will only be strengthened.   And although it’s wonderful to have friends when things are going good, the Prime Minister is absolutely right that it’s especially important to have friends when things are tough.  And we don’t have a better friend anywhere in the world than Poland.  So we’re grateful for that.

Thank you.

END               
2:32 P.M. CET

VP BIDEN, ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER PONTA MAKE REMARKS IN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta in a Joint Press Statement

Victoria Palace

Bucharest, Romania

1:10 P.M. (Local)

PRIME MINISTER PONTA:  (As interpreted) Good day.

We are very glad and honored to have the visit of Mr. Vice President Joe Biden here in Bucharest and at the headquarters of our government.

We are very happy to see you once again after the gathering that happened in October last year in Washington.  At that time, Vice President Biden said that he will come back to Romania, and as always he kept his word, and we’d like to thank him for that.

But I believe that his visit here is at the most necessary and right time for Romania, a moment when we have to reaffirm the idea of a strategic partnership that is stable and of long term between the United States of America and Romania, and the importance and confidence that the United States grant to the entire region and all of our partners and allies from the area, and also a special feeling towards the Romanian people that it’s not just our desire to have this strategic partnership, but also the United States considers Romania to be a trustworthy partner and a respected partner.

So this is the most important formula, and the presence of Vice President Biden in Bucharest is confirming this fundamental idea.  I want to restate once again in the name of Romania our total commitment to meet the requirements in our role that we play as a country at the border of NATO and the European Union, of the democratic world which is at this time confronted with a crisis situation that is unprecedented in the past 25 years, the aggression on behalf of the Russian Federation, breaching the international norms, the illegal annexing of Romania [sic].  These are challenges that this region has not seen in a long time.

And furthermore the presence of Vice President Biden here is a strong message for Romania, but also a strong message for the other countries in the region, first of all for Moldova, the country for which Romania has a lot of good feelings, but also for Ukraine, for Georgia and all the others that have decided to take the route of democracy, the route of reforms, and abiding the international law.

I had discussions with Vice President Biden for the decision of the Romanian government to assume all the positions that involve our situation right now.  The security can never be obtained free.  The investments that the Romanian government has to increase and has already increased regarding the defense system -- and I can tell you that we have an agreement and a political consensus in that -- for that point in the sense that for a short time period up until 2016, Romania will start allocating 2 percent of the GDP for defense expenditures.  And also the investment that Romania has made in -- from budgetary resources and EU financing and private financing in order to develop a strategic concept and specifically energy independence.

Romania is investing quite a lot.  It is open for investments so that it -- Romania itself can ensure for itself and for the Moldovan Republic an energy independence that is even more important in the current crisis conditions, an independence that will allow us to ensure to the Romanian and Moldovan population, to the economy of both countries that Russia will never be able to impede the normal functioning of these countries by using its energy supply.

The Romanian GDP increase, and I was happy to inform Vice President Biden of the situation that right now Romania is the economy that has the most rapid growth in the European Union.  This also grants the guarantee that we can be strong, that we can meet the tasks that we all have to meet here at the border of the NATO and EU, and we have an economic development later on that is even better.

In our discussion in October when I discussed with the state Secretary for Commerce, we had discussed an action plan that the Romanian government has already concluded, and it is implementing at this time in order to increase the investments of U.S. companies in encouraging commerce, in encouraging economic development and the collaboration between the two nations.

Furthermore than the bilateral collaboration, Romania is a very determined supporter of concluding the agreement that is known as T-TIP, the trade commerce agreement between the United States and the European Union.  We believe that at this time in the common trading area where we also have economic collaboration and democratic similar ideas can make us stronger in front of any challenges.

I would like to say in my conclusion that Romania must and can be an example of success in this region, an example of security -- military security, of political collaboration with the United States, of economic development, and of the economic and the democratic functioning of its institutions.  We have reaffirmed the government’s support for an independent justice system, an impartial justice system, an efficient justice system that will be able to apply truly that important principle of the fact that no one is above the law.  And whoever breaks the law no matter what his position is must answer in front of the court.

I would like to mention at this point that we have talked quite a lot about the Moldovan state.  Every time we have the opportunity to meet, I keep telling Mr. Vice President how important Moldova is for Romania, how important it is to support the United States, the European Union for this pro-European and pro-Romanian development of the Moldovan Republic.  And I want to thank for the support that the Washington administration is providing in an explicit manner, and they have assumed the fact that Romania and the Romanian people will be the beneficiary of what many other European citizens have, which is the visa waiver system.  All of the Romanians that go into the United States are contributing to what means the United States as a whole.

And I would like to say in my closing that I assured Vice President Biden that also in this year and the following years Romania will be for the United States a reliable and respected partner.

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (In progress) hospitality, Mr. Prime Minister.  It’s good to see you again.  I appreciate your dedication to the U.S.-Romanian relationship, and I’ve enjoyed our chances to talk together both in Washington and here.

The first thing the Prime Minister and I spoke about today was cooperation, security cooperation between the United States and Romania.  I reiterated to the Prime Minister what he already knew that -- America’s unwavering commitment to collective self-defense and Article 5.  We expect all nations to honor their NATO commitments.  We will honor ours.  And there should be no doubt about that on anyone’s mind.

We also spoke at some length about energy security and how national security and energy security come together in this part of the world in the need to ensure that Russia can no longer continue to use its energy resources and European dependence on those resources as a weapon -- a weapon against anyone in this region.

And that's why I believe that the development of a secure, diverse and interconnected energy market in Europe is the next big step for our European colleagues to initiate in a great project of European economic integration.

We are -- where our help is welcome, we are ready to provide help, and we have some little, unique expertise in this area if it is desired.

And Romania can and should be a significant part of a European energy solution.  By upgrading Romania’s infrastructure, Romania can be a lynchpin that holds together the energy markets from the Black Sea to Central and Eastern Europe.  And by expanding domestic production of natural gas, Romania can emerge as an alternative supplier for its neighbors.

And by extending the Romanian pipeline network, Romania can be part of the energy solution for Moldova, a country that is now overwhelmingly almost 100 percent reliant on Russian energy.

Our countries stand together in supporting Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its democratic development and its European aspirations.

The Prime Minister and I also spoke about steps we are taking to grow and deepen the economic partnership, including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that we’re in the process of negotiating.  Not only will it strengthen the vibrant economies of Europe and the United States and strengthen them all, but it also will set down new rules of the road that are necessary for the conduct to trade and commerce in the 21st century.

And as I discussed with the President and the Prime Minister, there is no more important step Romania can take than to attract jobs and investment that can continue to help it grow but continue in the process to strengthen the rule of law in order to allow that to continue.

When other countries exploit corruption to undermine their neighbor’s sovereignty and independence, this is not only a matter of economic opportunity, but national security.  But it’s also a matter of economic competitiveness.  Where the rule of law is strong, where courts adjudicate disputes and in a transparently fair way, where the rules of the marketplace are predictable, this is where companies around the world invest.  This is where they make their homes.

I was encouraged by the Prime Minister’s agreement last October to take concrete steps to improve Romania’s business climate.  Of course, the follow-through is essential.  But it’s underway.  I applaud you, Mr. Prime Minister, for taking this initiative on such an important issue.

Romania to state the obvious is already a terrific ally, partner and friend.  And our future together is bright.  It’s no longer a matter of what it was a decade or more ago about what the United States can do for Romania.  It’s about what we can do together to strengthen each of our countries.

So, Mr. President [sic], thank you for your commitment to continue to strengthen this relationship, for your work to make our futures even brighter and may God bless the Romanian people.  May God bless America and may God protect our troops -- Romanian and American -- who are still deployed in Afghanistan.

Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister.

END
1:23 P.M. (Local)