Speech #920056215

I was struck by the fact that very few of those Members who announced their intention to vote against the act listed as their principal reason a philosophic objection to a system of quotas. Most of the controversy centered around the allocation of the quotas to one foreign country or another. Very few words were said. and then only in passing. about the fact that the American consumer may well be paying more for sugar as a result of the sugar quota system. Considerable importance was attached by the supporters of the act on the need for protecting the jobs of American workers against the threat of a flood of cheap foreign imports in the absence of a quota system. I am sure that most of the Members of this House are aware that one of the reasons for the delay in the forthcoming legislation extending this countrys participation in the International Coffee Agreement is the fact that considerable pressure was brought to bear on the Brazilians to agree to abandon or restrict their policies favoring the export of instant coffee at prices considerably lower than that charged by the American manufacturers of the same product. The manufacturers of instant coffee. in other words. were able to influence our Government to the extent that negotiations have been going on for the last 4 years with the Brazilians and other coffee consumers to protect their intereststhat is. the interests of the American instant coffee manufacturers.