mr. speaker , i yield myself the balance of my time . 
mr. speaker , let me thank all of my colleagues who participated in this debate . 
let me , once again , remind those who are following this debate that we are talking about a free trade agreement with bahrain , a country which is about the same size as the city of austin , whose total trade with the united states is measured in terms of a couple hundred million dollars . 
it is a country with a high standard of living for that region whose economy produces $ 19 , 000 plus per capita of gdp , which is about 4 times higher than we had in dealing with the cafta countries . 
it is also a country that imports labor and helps actually the economy of the region because of its economic opportunities . 
i mention that so we can put this agreement in context . 
many of my colleagues who have spoken of concern have talked about concern on economic policies related to trade here in the united states , and i join them on many occasions , particularly as they are referring to problems that we are having with trading partners . 
but that is not the issue that we have before us today . 
the issue we have before us today is an agreement with a single country , bahrain . 
one issue that we need to be concerned about is whether this agreement will not only advance the traditional barriers to trade by eliminating them , such as tariffs and some of the nontariff barriers , but how does it deal with issues that are becoming more important , such as workers ' rights . 
on the traditional barriers of tariff and nontariff issues , i have not heard any debate against this agreement . 
this agreement , in fact , removes barriers so that u.s. companies and u.s. manufacturers and u.s. farmers will have greater access to the market of bahrain . 
in regards to workers ' rights , i agree with my colleagues that have spoken of concern about trade agreements . 
i think it is time that we graduate international labor standards to core provisions within the trade agreements , and that we have enforcement within the trade agreements . 
but i think in judging bahrain , we need to use the standard that we have used , and that is , does this nation measure up to international labor standards . 
the answer to that question is yes . 
they have passed major reform in 2002 . 
they have acknowledged the difficulties with those laws that need to be changed . 
they have issued interpretations to comply with ilo standards and have introduced laws that will correct the additional standards , and they have agreed to allow us to use the trade agreement to make sure that in fact these new laws are not only passed , but in fact , bahrain is living up to ilo standards . 
that to me is good faith with an ally , and one in which we can move forward and should move forward . 
so i think bahrain has passed the test on an agreement that we should support , but at times there is more than just the economic issues that affect our country that we should be looking at whether we move forward with bilateral regional trade agreements . 
in bahrain 's case , i think the evidence is overwhelming . 
we need to expand opportunities in the middle east . 
the best chance for peace in the middle east is if we can open up the economic opportunities of that region , and bahrain offers us a country that has stepped forward and offered leadership . 
in repealing the boycott against israel and saying that it wants to have open trade in the region , they will now be the fourth nation in that region that we will have a free trade agreement with . 
we have jordan , israel and morocco . 
so this represents an opportunity to advance u.s. interest in stabilizing a region of the world that has been of major interest to the united states . 
so for all these reasons , this agreement with a very small country that will have minimum impact on the economic activities of this country , i think it will be positive , but it will be minimum because of the size of the country , but represents progress as to how we should evaluate trading relations with other partners . 
are they willing to remove barriers ? 
are they willing to respect international labor rights ? 
are they willing to be a good neighbor in the region to advance peace and stability ? 
in each of these instances , bahrain passes this test , and i urge my colleagues to support this agreement . 
mr. speaker , i yield back the balance of my time . 
