2011 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Free Trade


Pat Quinn: Exports support 500,000 jobs in IL; double that in 5 years

Illinois is a major player on the global stage. Our current exports support more than a half a million Illinois jobs. In 2010, our state's exports went up by nearly 20% to just under 50 billion dollars. We are 6th in the nation in exports, and first in the Midwest. As Governor, I pledge double our exports over the next five years. To meet this goal, we will be reorganizing our foreign trade offices--working with representatives from international markets to develop new trading relationships and enhance the ones already in place. For example: we recently hosted the president of China and his delegation of trade officials. These meetings resulted in $1.8 billion in agreements that will sell 25% of Illinois' soybean crop to China. In 2010, exports from Illinois to China increased by nearly 30%. And more than 30 Chinese companies have already invested in Illinois, employing thousands of Illinois workers.
Source: Illinois 2011 State of the State Budget Address Feb 16, 2011

Bev Perdue: Visited China to see N.C.'s competition

Last year I visited China on a trip to recruit new businesses and develop our economic relationships with our second largest trading partner. It was my first trip to China; I wasn't fully prepared for what I saw or how I felt afterward. I went into classrooms where children were studying concepts far in advance of American children of similar ages. They demand more work out of their kids. They require more involvement from parents. They expect no less than excellence from their students and teacher and parents and schools. Education in China is a major part of the reason their workers are global competitors. Make no mistake--they are North Carolina's competition, and they have learned from our successes.

When the factories started laying off workers or closing, Chinese imports were competing with American products. The fires of the recession have forged a new North Carolina, one where we never lose faith in our possibilities. So many of those possibilities point directly back to education.

Source: North Carolina 2011 State of the State Address Feb 14, 2011

Scott Walker: Global opportunity: Get WI products out to the world

The state's facing a fundamentally changed marketplace to which we have to respond. Like Wisconsin companies, our competition isn't just next door but also across the world. As a result, we must transform our government and business environment to compet globally. With global competition also comes global opportunity. For instance, 96% of the world's population live and consume products outside of the US. Wisconsin businesses who want to grow, expand and create new, good-paying jobs need to be able to get their products out to the world in a cost-effective manner. That means a strong transportation network in Wisconsin; re-prioritizing our transportation investments. I challenged the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to look at new ways to reconstruct our state's busiest interchange--the Zoo Interchange--which is used by 350,000 people a day. Our transportation leaders met the challenge and developed a plan that will start the project ahead of schedule and save the taxpayer's $600 million.
Source: 2011 Wisconsin State of the State Address Feb 1, 2011

Gary Herbert: Assist Utah companies with global vision for export growth

To accelerate job creation across the state, we must focus on three key areas: First, we must increase access to capital, for our small and start up businesses. We must ensure that the Utah Fund of Funds, created by the Legislature three years ago, is focused on assisting UTAH companies. Second, we must expand our GLOBAL vision. Utah's export growth is the strongest in the nation. To ensure a continued focus on international business, I challenge Lew Cramer and other international business leaders to double Utah exports in the next five years. Third, I urge the Legislature to pass Senator Ralph Okerlund's Business Expansion and Retention bill to support companies throughout rural Utah. Utah has been recognized time and again as a pro-business state, for the first time in our state's history, a #1 ranking from Forbes as the "Best State for Business and Careers" in America.
Source: 2011 Utah State of the State Address Jan 26, 2011

Rick Snyder: Increase Canada trade with new Detroit River bridge

To achieve success in today's world, it requires that we look beyond our borders. We must open ourselves to the promises and potential of the global marketplace. We must increase exports from Michigan farmers, manufacturers and entrepreneurs. Last year, Canada was the top market for our products. In 2009, Michigan did roughly $4 billion in trade with Canada. We also know that one out of every eight jobs in Detroit is in the export industry. [We] widened approaches to the international bridge and major improvements to ease the traffic flow in Port Huron. Global demand for our ports of entry is expected to increase steadily with no signs of slowing. To satisfy growing demand, we must move forward towards building a new bridge from Detroit to Windsor, The Detroit River International River Crossing.
Source: 2011 Michigan State of the State Address Jan 19, 2011

Sean Parnell: Develop rare earth minerals to beat China trade quota

If we want our economy to become even more dynamic, we must also look to our untapped resources. Few people have ever heard of rare earth minerals, but rare earth minerals are of increasing importance in the world economy. These rare earth elements are used in almost every piece of electronic equipment. Today, our Pacific Rim neighbor, China, controls 97% of the world market for these rare earth elements. Recently, China imposed trade quotas and increased tariffs on these precious commodities. And, China announced it is substantially reducing access to these rare earth elements. These policies will cost Americans more of our hard-earned money and jeopardize national security. We cannot afford to rely on foreign sources to meet our nation's demand. And you know what; there may be no reason to. Alaska is a storehouse of rare earth minerals. Let's explore them. We should work together to fund a strategic assessment of these minerals to determine, once again, how Alaska can help meet America's needs.
Source: 2011 Alaska State of the State Address Jan 19, 2011

Jack Dalrymple: Link ND businesses with foreign buyers

Our strategy calls for building on our success in the global marketplace by linking North Dakota businesses with foreign buyers. As the past chairman of our state Trade Office, I can tell you that the opportunities for our state's exporters are incredible. N.D. ranks first in the nation in export growth over a five-year period. The model for export trade that we have developed in North Dakota is very effective and can be enhanced by adding specialized services such as logistics consulting.
Source: 2011 State of the State speech to North Dakota legislature Jan 4, 2011

  • The above quotations are from 2011 Governor's State of the State speeches.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Free Trade.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Andrew Cuomo on Free Trade.
  • Click here for more quotes by Jack Dalrymple on Free Trade.
Candidates and political leaders on Free Trade:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018