Florida Senate - 2022                              CS for SM 174
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Commerce and Tourism; and Senator Pizzo
       
       
       
       
       
       577-00998-22                                           2022174c1
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States and
    3         the President of the United States urging Congress to
    4         expeditiously renew trade promotion authority for the
    5         executive branch, urging the executive branch to
    6         negotiate a comprehensive and mutually beneficial free
    7         trade agreement between the United States and the
    8         United Kingdom, and urging Congress to ratify such
    9         agreement.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, the United States is the United Kingdom’s largest
   12  single-country trade partner, with a relationship valued at more
   13  than $200 billion; the two countries are each other’s largest
   14  foreign direct investors, having approximately $1 trillion
   15  invested in their counterpart’s economy; and the UK-US Trade and
   16  Investment Working Group has been laying the groundwork to
   17  strengthen trade and investment ties between the two countries,
   18  including through the use of a free trade agreement, and
   19         WHEREAS, the expansion of global trade, especially with the
   20  United Kingdom, is of vital importance to the growth of the
   21  United States’ economy, small business participation in the
   22  international marketplace, and job creation, and
   23         WHEREAS, this state would benefit greatly from the
   24  ratification of a comprehensive free trade agreement, which,
   25  since the United Kingdom is currently the largest foreign direct
   26  employer in this state and is the second largest market for
   27  tourism, would create employment opportunities for residents of
   28  this state as a direct result of reducing and removing barriers
   29  to trade and free markets, and
   30         WHEREAS, the successful implementation of a free trade
   31  agreement will increase exports to the United Kingdom from this
   32  state, and
   33         WHEREAS, the United States Constitution grants the United
   34  States Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce with
   35  foreign nations, and
   36         WHEREAS, the negotiation of a successful free trade
   37  agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom will
   38  require bipartisan cooperation between state, federal, and
   39  foreign governments, NOW, THEREFORE,
   40  
   41  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         That the Congress of the United States is urged to
   44  expeditiously renew trade promotion authority for the executive
   45  branch, the executive branch is urged to complete a timely and
   46  successful negotiation of a comprehensive and mutually
   47  beneficial free trade agreement between the United States and
   48  the United Kingdom, and the Congress of the United States is
   49  urged to ratify such agreement.
   50         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch
   51  copies of this memorial to the President of the United States,
   52  the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the
   53  United States House of Representatives, and each member of the
   54  Florida delegation to the United States Congress.