John Block Reports from Washington

The words of Dr. Norman Borlaug -- "Here in the U. S. if we tried to product the harvest of 1999 with the technology of 1940, we would have had to cultivate 470 million more acres ofland." So you see, technology saved the forests, saved the wetlands and fed the people. In this new century, technology will once again save the day with Biotechnology. Visit the at www.whybiotech.com.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. One year ago who would have imagined we would be at war today -- trying to search out and destroy an invisible enemy? As frightening as the attack on our country was, we are now closer, move united, more committed, more caring and more thankful than ever. It has made this Thanksgiving even more meaningful.

There is still a lot of unfinished business here in Washington. One priority that I would like to focus on is trade promotion authority. President Bush needs TPA if a new round of trade talks are to be convened. It should be an easy vote by Congress. Every President in recent years has been given the authority to negotiate. So what's the hang-up?

Organized labor is a big stumbling block. They insist that any trade agreement contain strict labor standards. But developing countries don't want big bull U.S. telling them what kind of labor standards they must have. Example: U.S. labor would insist that no child labor be used in product production. You might say, "Sounds good to me." The U.S. has a long history of the use of child labor. I grew up milking cows, driving a tractor, pulling weeds out of bean fields. I was child labor.

Is it a bad thing for young people to work? I don't think we are in a very good position to police how children work in other countries. That's just one example. The environmental lobby is insisting on environmental standards that they want to impose on poor countries. If President Bush has his negotiating hands tied with a lot of onerous mandates, the countries that need trade the most will never sign on. Costly labor and environmental stands are a poison pill.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington.