IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 217 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the President should seek to 
enter into a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2005 
Mr. SOUDER (for himself, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. FLAKE, and Mr. TERRY) sub-
mitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the President 
should seek to enter into a free trade agreement with 
the United Kingdom. 
Whereas a close, unique economic, cultural, and strategic re-
lationship exists between the United States and the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; 
Whereas law, language, literature, common conceptions of 
what is right and decent, a marked regard for fair play, 
especially to the weak and poor, a stern sentiment of im-
partial justice, and above all the love of personal freedom 
are common conceptions in the Anglosphere that is our 
English-speaking nations;
•HCON 217 IH 
Whereas the Anglo-American economies are based on 
promarket principles such as private property rights, low 
government regulation, entrepreneurship, and innovation; 
Whereas these principles allow the United States and the 
United Kingdom to maintain strong vibrant economies 
that are able to adapt to changing global economic condi-
tions; 
Whereas the United Kingdom has long pioneered and cham-
pioned free trade around the world, an example embraced 
by the United States; 
Whereas the United States and the United Kingdom have the 
largest and the fourth largest economies in the world, re-
spectively; 
Whereas direct foreign investment flowing between the 
United States and the United Kingdom totals nearly 
$400,000,000,000; this relationship, the largest in the 
world, helps to sustain more than a million American 
jobs; 
Whereas the United States dollar and the British pound ster-
ling remain the chief currencies for businesses around the 
world; 
Whereas American investment in Britain is almost double the 
amount that Germany, France, and Italy combined invest 
in Britain; and Britain also invests double the amount in 
the United States than it does in Germany, France, and 
Italy; 
Whereas in an opinion poll conducted in the United Kingdom 
between September 16 and 20, 2004, by ICM Research 
Limited, 58 percent of respondents answered that ‘‘We 
should take back powers from the EU and develop a new
•HCON 217 IH 
global trade and defence alliance with America, some in 
Europe, and other countries across the world’’; 
Whereas economic growth in the United States has been con-
siderably enhanced by bilateral agreements to lower bar-
riers for United States exports; a report by the Inter-
national Trade Commission estimates that the elimi-
nation of tariffs between the United States and the 
United Kingdom would result in an 11 to 16 percent in-
crease in exports from the United States to the United 
Kingdom; 
Whereas the purpose of a free trade area should be to facili-
tate trade between constituent territories and not to raise 
trade barriers against others; trade barriers, by increas-
ing the final price of imported goods to consumers or lim-
iting their availability in other ways, can directly inhibit 
consumer freedom and reduce consumer welfare; 
Whereas countries that open their domestic markets, remove 
barriers to foreign direct investment, and promote free 
enterprise empower their citizens to alleviate poverty; 
Whereas the nations of the Anglosphere have sought to ex-
pand the idea of free trade through bilateral and multi-
lateral agreements and international organizations; 
Whereas the United States and the United Kingdom are both 
members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and 
its predecessor the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade (GATT), which guarantee the right of countries to 
enter into free trade agreements with other countries; 
Whereas on August 6, 2002, the President signed into law 
the Trade Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–210), which pro-
vides for an expedited procedure for congressional consid-
eration of international trade agreements; and
•HCON 217 IH 
Whereas the United States Senate has expressed its support 
for a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the 
President should take the necessary steps to conclude a 
free trade agreement between the United States and the 
United Kingdom. 
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