We are already seeing that on the tax package and all of us in the administration stand ready to work with Congress to get the job done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. I'm referring to trade and your role in the global marketplace. I expect that some in this room have an export story to tell. One report I saw recently said that over 95 percent of all U.S. exporting businesses are small. To provide new opportunities for these and other American firms, President Bush has made trade and open markets a centerpiece in his policy agenda.
Economic growth is, of course, a driving force for liberalizing markets.
Tearing down barriers to trade and commerce for goods, services and capital promises a higher standard of living for all of us here at home and our neighbors abroad. But there must be more to it and there is. Free and open trade is an important foundation for democracy, social freedom and political stability in our hemisphere and around the world. In liberalizing trade agreements, we are recognizing that the genius of the free enterprise system relies on and encourages human freedom. Free men and women conducting their business in free markets can pursue their economic destinies and go as far as their dreams, talents and initiative take them.