IV
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 113
Relating to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 22, 1993
Mr. MCDERMOTT submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred jointly to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Relating to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
organization.
Whereas the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization
was formed in 1989 in order to strengthen regional ties
among the economies of member countries of the organi-
zation by reducing barriers to trade and investment be-
tween such members;
Whereas the organization seeks to reduce such barriers
through economic cooperation and the coordination of
policy among such members;
Whereas the United States is a member of the organization;
Whereas trade between the United States and organization
members Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, the
People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand,
•HCON 113 IH
the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand ac-
counts for more than half of all United States two-way
trade;
Whereas the United States exported $218,000,000,000 of
goods and services to members of the organization in
1992, an amount constituting 52 percent of the value of
all United States exports in that year;
Whereas the volume of trade between the United States and
the Asia Pacific region increased at an average annual
rate of 9.1 percent between 1980 and the present;
Whereas that rate of increase exceeds the average annual
rate of increase in trade during that period between the
United States and any other region;
Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to expand
trade between the United States and Asia Pacific coun-
tries in order to create more export-oriented jobs for
Americans;
Whereas the United States, as a Pacific power with signifi-
cant economic and security interests in the East Asia and
Pacific regions, should be engaged actively in shaping in-
stitutional arrangements that advance freer trade and
strengthen the multilateral trade system;
Whereas the annual ministerial meeting of the organization
will be held in Seattle, Washington, on November 17
through November 19, 1993, and will be chaired and
hosted by the United States;
Whereas chairing and hosting the ministerial meeting pre-
sents the United States with the opportunity to initiate
a proactive agenda in order to achieve progress among
members of the organization relating to economic com-
petition, civil aviation, energy cooperation, use and ex-
•HCON 113 IH
change of technological data and products, intellectual
property rights, human resources development, and the
environment; and
Whereas a strong United States commitment to the organiza-
tion can promote liberalization of trade among organiza-
tion members, and can advance interests common to such
members in a region undergoing rapid economic and po-
litical transformation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),
SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress—
(1) to encourage United States leadership in
the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization;
and
(2) that the President, the Secretary of State,
and other representatives of the United States Gov-
ernment should take the opportunity presented by
the scheduled chairing and hosting by the United
States of the ministerial meeting of the organization
in Seattle, Washington, on November 17 through
November 19, 1993, to reaffirm the United States
commitment to make Asia Pacific Economic Co-
operation an effective regional economic organization
that reduces formal and informal barriers to in-
creased intra-regional trade through the harmoni-
zation of standards, trade, and investment policies.
•HCON 113 IH
SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.
The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall
transmit a copy of this resolution to the President and
the Secretary of State.
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