Fourth: Both in our national interest, and in the interest of world peace,
we must have a five-year extension of the Trade Agreements Act with
broadened authority to negotiate.
World trade supports a significant segment of American industry and
agriculture. It provides employment for four and one-half million American
workers. It helps supply our ever increasing demand for raw materials. It
provides the opportunity for American free enterprise to develop on a
worldwide scale. It strengthens our friends and increases their desire to
be friends. World trade helps to lay the groundwork for peace by making all
free nations of the world stronger and more self-reliant.
America is today the world's greatest trading nation. If we use this great
asset wisely to meet the expanding demands of the world, we shall not only
provide future opportunities for our own business, agriculture, and labor,
but in the process strengthen our security posture and other prospects for
a prosperous, harmonious world.
As President McKinley said, as long ago as 1901: "Isolation is no longer
possible or desirable .... The period of exclusiveness is past."