Good morning and welcome to CSIS. My name is Matthew Goodman. I'm the Simon chair in political economy here at CSIS. Delighted to see a good crowd on a rainy Wednesday morning. Appreciate your coming out and shout out also to our online viewers. We know we have a loyal following online and delighted to have you. You can follow us on Twitter at CSIS. So we had about a little over a year ago Prime Minister Abe here at CSIS and he said Japan is back and I think that this event is a clear recognition that that is the case. Certainly Japan is back in terms of the interest in Japan here in Washington and generally and so the audience here reflects that but clearly up on Capitol Hill as well there is renewed interest in Japan and the fact that earlier this year I think officially on March 24th the two congressmen who were about to meet co- established a Japan caucus a U.S. Japan caucus for the first time apparently up on the hill is a real sign that there is tremendous interest in Japan on all fronts economic security political and so this is a very exciting opportunity to hear from our congressional caucus on U.S. Japan relations and so let me just introduce them and then we'll get started on I'm not gonna say directions here because it always gets you in trouble on the left right center but at the far furthest from me is congressman David Nunes of California he's a Republican who's been in the house since 2003 he is the chairman of the house ways and means trade subcommittee and he is also on the permanent select committee on intelligence and so he is the Republican co-chair of the caucus and then next to him is congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas he's Democrat who entered Congress in 2013 he sits on both the foreign affairs committee and the armed services committee in the house and he is the Democratic co-chair of this committee it's a bipartisan caucus and they're gonna tell you more I think about why it was founded and what it's going to be aiming to do next to me is Mike Green my colleague here at CSS who is the senior vice president for Asia and the Japan chair here at CSS and he's going to moderate the discussion so I'll stop and turn it over to Mike great thank you Matthew and thank you both for joining me one more thing please turn off cell phones and noise makers thank you thank you for coming out very rainy day I want to ask a couple of questions and get the dialogue going and then we'll open it up to the audience but let me first ask about the caucus itself as Matthew said surprisingly there hasn't been a U.S. Japan caucus in the Congress despite the fact that there are for many if not most of our leading allies and trade partners why is there this caucus now what do you want to achieve and I'm also interested for each of you personally sort of what hooked you on Japan and what got you interested in this it's not like you don't have a lot of other things in your day job so why don't we start with that congressman you know well thank you really it was because of Japan's interest in becoming part of the the normal trading regime I think and we know that as Abe was here last year he's really reaching out to globally trying to make changes in Japan the joke was as many of the folks that followed Japan closely is we couldn't even remember who the Prime Minister was because it just kept changing so often and so we're I think with with the with kind of the steady hand of the Abe government looking towards TPP looking at trying to create a WTO plus type of environment for trade and economic growth was really a reason why there's this renewed interest in Japan once Japan decided to get into the TPP and Joaquin and I decided that we needed to increase Japan's presence in the capital and there's been surprising number of turnout with I think we have close to 70 members of Congress who have joined the Japan caucus and I'm so I'm excited about it and I think that if we can over the next few years if we can implement these these two big trade agreements both TPP and the EU agreement it really is going to change the way that we create economic development all over the globe right thank you well first of all thank you to the Center for hosting this and thank you to Matthew and yourself for being part of it you know Japan is and Japanese companies are very important to the US economy and that is true throughout the United States and part of the reason that I was drawn to starting this caucus with Devin is because in San Antonio we have a large Toyota plant the sixth North American manufacturing plant for Toyota they just announced the movement of a few thousand more jobs of Texas and Toyota is just one example of a Japanese company that's employing thousands of Americans in San Antonio and in Texas so there's a very strong relationship there but I should also say that San Antonio like other American cities started the relationship with Japan not recently but years ago one of the reasons that Japan found San Antonio a hospitable place for that plant is because in the 1980s we had started a very deep relationship with Japan and have a sister city in Kumamoto and so there's been this long bilateral relationship between our two cities there's been a congressional study group on Japan that Diane to get as part of I think she heads up and they've done incredible work over the years our ours was an attempt to formalize this into a caucus and if you look at the membership of it as Devin mentioned it's almost 70 strong and still growing and we just got started but it's bipartisan and it also represents people that represent places from throughout the United States and your brother is mayor my brother family it's a family thing we're twins but I'm the better-looking twin good good and that was on the record that's on the record it's interesting you know 25 years ago in the Congress first of all the Japan account was very partisan and second when people were asked an opinion polls in 1988 89 what's a bigger threat the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons or Japan's economy guess who won I mean people thought that Japan's economy was a bigger threat that today it's a big change I mean there's very strong bipartisanship on Asia policy generally and on Japan and there's a sense that a growing vibrant Japanese economy that's part of global trading system on helping us build rules as a plus so there's a lot of runway there's a lot of room to do things with this caucus the president just came back from an important trip to Asia including a state visit in Japan and as I understand it the largest number of codels of congressional delegations in some 20 30 years to Japan how do you look at the trips particularly the president's trip we'll start with congressman sure Castro well I think it was a success you know the president has talked about his Asia policy and really when you think about his foreign policy this pivot to Asia is one of the hallmarks of that policy and he had a chance very importantly to reassure countries like Japan but also South Korea and the Philippines about the American commitment to their security which is obviously very important for those nations but also very important for our influence in the Asia Pacific region and of course as everybody here knows you know you're talking about in that region two of the nation's largest five economies three of the nation's largest 15 economies so and and continuing to grow so it's very important that the United States have a very strong and steady hand in the region and I think the president's trip reaffirmed that and went a long way to strengthen it well as you'll you'll find out that in Congress we have you know really different views and I have a little bit of a different view on the president's trip I thought it was it's it's really been a mistake that we have not passed trade promotion authority and you know I think the president and some folks had some type of hope that they could close out the TPP agreement when they were there and I think that was a bad mistake and I think that until we passed trade promotion authority in the Congress I think we really give USTR a weak hand to play as they're negotiating out the TPP so there has been a lot of attention paid to the region it's important that congressional delegations go there it's important that the president went there and it's important I think the president laid out some real security kind of a security platform as it relates to some of the issues in the in the South China Sea but I think that as you look forward here you're gonna have to have trade promotion authority because if we we can have all the defense and intelligence linkages that we want but if we don't have those economic ties it makes it very tough and when you have Japan who's really trying to change their the dynamics of their economy and and are willing to do what they've never been able to do you go back to 1988 the reason why was because they kind of a closed economy and they were just crushing on the global market which it worked for a while but it's not working anymore for Japan and so ultimately economics plays out and Japan has seen that they need to join the world economy as China has also seen and so I just feel that that the president would have would have really made a big splash had trade promotion authority already been passed in the Congress and we would be looking at getting down to the end of negotiating TPP but unfortunately I think we're still stuck at the beginning it's it's hard for the you know we have a federal system Japan as a parliamentary system the Prime Minister can knows if he can deliver his caucus but on the US side our trading partners don't know if the president can deliver till there's some test of that and the TPA is that test of course TPA you know even with TPA trade agreements aren't safe with Korea most recently pretty much every trade agreement we've done in the last decade even after TPA there were two three mulligans and do-overs but I think the demonstration effect the test of congressional support and presidential power some you hear about in Japan so so what happens next we have possibly a window until recess possibly a window after the midterms maybe next year how do you see the TPA TPP debate well I'll start with with you because you're on the ways of East Committee well we've been we've been really we were we were really hopeful last year that the president was gonna make a strong push for trade promotion authority because really this is this is part of what ultimately would be a big part of his legacy a big positive part of his legacy as it was for Bill Clinton and you know what the problem is is that there's been just this lack of understanding that you've got to work closely with the Congress in order to get things passed and as you said it's it's much different in Japan where they can make things happen here you gotta you know we're all individuals we we disagree you know we all we both represent 700,000 people so the key is is can you get 218 votes in the Senate and 60 votes or two 218 votes in the house and 60 votes in the Senate and the president finally mentioned it in a state of the Union address the the need to pass trade promotion authority and then 12 hours later you had the arguably the number two Democrat in the country the leader of the Senate Harry Reid came out and said well we're not gonna move trade promotion authority and so you know we're I actually fault the United States I think we're being a very irresponsible partner in terms of of being able to negotiate out and finish this agreement and and the blame really lies with the Senate because the house is ready to move the bill but we're not gonna move the bill until the until Harry Reid is gonna move the bill you know we we need to have some kind of agreement that that we put politics aside and for the betterment of the global economy that we move forward on this on these the straight agenda kind of are you optimistic about TVP well you know it depends on the deal that struck you know if you ask the question will will this trade agreement pass it depends on the deal that you know ultimately is made and of course you know TPP has not been put down in writing in a bill so that's hard to predict you know what you do have well first of all I think the issue of TPA it's a traditional issue between the Congress the legislative branch and the executive branch it's not just on this issue but many other issues and certainly not just with this president but many presidents in Congress is before and so you know you have obviously Democratic concerns about incorporating the May 10th provisions about strengthening labor and environmental provisions so we'll see how that goes but I would also point out that on the right in the Republican Party you have a group of folks within the Tea Party now that you didn't have in previous and most of the previous free trade agreements who are generally not as supportive of trade as what you know you would consider pro-business Republicans so there is a new dynamic I think politically that needs to be considered you know the concerns on the left or among Democrats are fairly consistent but I do think you have this new dynamic on the right that was not factored in in previous agreements on the whole do you both think with there's a lot of ifs in this but if there's a good deal if there's movement on trade promotion authority you know if if the political leadership is done in the Congress and administration do you think there's sufficient support well let me let me answer it this way just so I can make sure that I don't want to leave anything to chance on this we're going to get a TPP agreement ultimately the challenge is going to be I think whether or not President Obama is going to get it done or whether the next president United States going to get it done I mean that's what we're really up to now and so the president isn't is in a great position you know he could start making moves now perhaps we can't do it before the election he could start putting something together working with the Congress to maybe get something in the lame duck but if not if you start to leak past this year then you get into the crazy times of presidential primaries and you'll you know you'll have people all over the map on this and I think it will become very difficult to pass TPA that then gets us to which is what we need to get to TPP but but I do believe ultimately there's a commitment by by all the parties involved that we're going to get this done I just hope it's sooner rather than later lest our friends in the Japanese media write a headline out of this panel saying Congress decides it's all on Congress and the president let's put the burden on Prime Minister Abe in Japan a little bit what do you think Japan has to do you both mentioned that the surge in interest has a lot to do with Prime Minister Abe and his steady hand on the tiller but also Japan joining TPP that's a very big deal and the joke is without Japan TPP is a free trade agreement with Brunei I mean this this this this makes this very very real so maybe you could each say something about what this would mean for Japan as you see it in terms of relations with the US Japanese economy well I think you know our relationship with Japan as it exists now and as it existed for decades from the 1960 security agreement for example yeah ours is a very strong solid relationship and it's also larger than this agreement whether it's whether there's TPP or not however certainly I think that it would increase trade and economic productivity between the two nations and I think you know Japan just like the US and all the other countries that are parties of the agreement are going to have to take a long hard introspective look at what they're willing to commit in terms of tariffs and prices which industries are willing to allow free trade in and those are very difficult and tough things for all the countries involved and certainly with Japan there's some of their fundamental industries they're gonna have to you know really think about those and how much they're willing to open them up well we really push for Japan and Canada and Mexico to get in because we knew it would make it such a bigger such a bigger agreements better in terms of because if we can actually make TPP WTO plus as I started out to begin with then that leads to the EU agreement and you know all of these are combined this is why it's so important I think for for not only the Congress but also the legacy of the Obama of President Obama's time in the White House you're talking about two thirds of the world's GDP really being under a WTO plus system and you know from my perspective WTO is barely functionable barely functionable and there's a you know it allows for a lot of bad actors and a lot of lawyers to make a lot of money and nothing ever happens and so this type of agreement is so critical I think as you as you look towards specifically to your question on Japan you know they're they're gonna have to be willing to put everything on the table I have said numerous times that I think it's fine to have certain products where we're all we're all sensitive to certain products of you know both the US regionally and Japan is to we understand that but a free trade agreement is not a free trade agreement if you don't get rid of tariffs and so I understand needing time but to have some products that don't go to zero is a little bit silly so I mean there is there isn't you know if Japan is not willing to make those tough decisions you know we may end up with an agreement with Brunei you know it's the both negotiating teams have been pretty good about keeping this quiet but it seems like we're down to a few maybe five agricultural sectors in Japan and all those and a few other things and it'd be it'd be a real shame and a bit of an embarrassment and loss for both countries if we let that stop what you're describing which is a 21st century standard trade agreement that not only encompasses with you and when you include t-tip you know most of the WTO members but really puts a high mark for China in particular but also India as they reform their economy so it's really quite critical and I I know we all appreciate your your active engagement on this let me turn to security president gave very robust statements in every stop on security in Japan in particular about the Senkaku or Diaoyu tie islands we since the Cold War I was in the Bush administration but it was true for Clinton as well we've we've tried to expand cooperation engagement with China but at the same time keep our allies close and expand our partnership so that the rules in Asia are the right rules that the China's coming in as a partner not as a revisionist player trying to change things so pretty hard balancing act Chinese government seems pretty unhappy with the president's trip I think I'll start with Congressman Castro this time but how do you think you get that that balance right we're not containing China we're trying to cooperate with China but we stand by our allies how do you how do you think you get that that mix right well I think the president struck a good balance you know I mean look you have in Japan and China two countries that the United States is very actively engaged with as trading partners a security agreement and a long-standing relationship with Japan so as you mentioned you know at the end of the day you're gonna reassure your allies especially those that you have a specific agreement with that you're gonna be there to support them and I think that's what he did you know that said I mean of course you know we're strong economic partners with China and so they're obviously very important to our economy the United States also has a very important role to play in easing the tensions I think in that region you mentioned the incursion on the Sinkaku Islands you know also bringing our allies together Japan and South Korea who have very similar interests as it relates to China you know concerns about North Korea and so yeah it was great to see the president there visiting all those countries and being very hands-on not only with respect to trade but also with respect to security aspect well I think you through economic security comes security and if that's why it's so critical I think to get this TPP done because it really then puts it forces I think ultimately China to the table and the Chinese know that Chinese government knows that you know a lot of the even then some of the officials that I've spoke to have admitted that from from China so that's why you know for the betterment of the entire world we need to see this see this get done I think as you it's hard for us as Americans to really look at that region and have a you know a real understanding of it unless you were a you know scholar of the of the region because you know this is these these societies go back they have a thousands of years and it becomes very difficult because you you know the Japanese and the Koreans and the Chinese have been it and other regions have been at war for you know several you know many times and you know you go back to World War two was wasn't that long ago China was our ally and Japan wasn't so you know we just want to make sure that over the long run that we that we create these these economic ties and then we hope that at some point that that China's you know kind of communist theocracy I guess is all you can call it and it's kind of a it's really becoming a country of a lot of really rich people at the very top and you know they've basically given up on on kind of Marxist communism but they need to open up their economy they need to open up their political system and the sooner they can do that the better and I think the sooner that we forge strong economic partnerships and the strong defensive partnership it's gonna hopefully open up the the eyes of the Chinese to actually join the rest of the world that's been the key to our success when we've gotten it right for a hundred years it's the Navy the trading system we bring in our values it's interesting you you mentioned earlier when we were backstage that the members of the caucus are not all from Hawaiian California and Washington State they're from all from landlocked you know San Antonio I mean from all over the country and in public opinion polls I guess over the last three four years or so when Americans are asked what region of the world is most important they used to say Europe for decades now they say Asia when asked in a lot of polling what country do you trust the most after Britain Canada Australia you know the the cousins Japan ranks very very high so there's a lot of at least instinctive understanding even if everyone's not a scholar of the history of the Asia Pacific region well and as you pointed out my at the beginning you know that is we've come such a long way from the 1980s where there really was this worry that Japan was gonna take over America by buying everything up the relationship economically has evolved incredibly and there is an incredible sense of cooperation among the two countries and then to Devin's point I think you know I do get the sense that with this trade agreement more than previous trade agreements there is a sense that geopolitics is also at stake in a way that I didn't sense before not only because of the Asia pivot but also because because China is you know such a powerful nation in that in that part of the world and emerging obviously as a powerful player in the rest of the world and to the extent that you have engagements economic engagements with other nations there you know what kind of position is it put the United States in these of each other last question then we'll turn it over to the audience and something that puzzles not just average Americans but you know scholars and experts on the region is the state of the Japan-Korea relationship two close allies two countries with very pro-US attitudes two countries the American people respect two democracies but man very very tough political racial relations right now and unfortunately for you all that spills over into the US Congress because we have a lot of Korean Americans you have thoughts on this is there a way the caucus can help as a way Congress can help should the Congress just stay out of it we can't in my view solve these problems between two friends but we might be able to help on the margins or something well I think we try to help but sometimes I think more often than not we get involved we couldn't make things worse so you know currently I know that the State Department has the I forget the name but it's like a meeting of the three where they get together some kind of commission you know at least where people are at the table talking obviously you know that's something that we can always push forward but it's it's as I said earlier right I mean there's so much history there and a lot of bad history in terms of you know a lot of people were killed on both sides and a lot of a lot of issues that that we won't go into but you know you still have that ever growing or ever never indeed problem of North Korea and until we take care of North Korea it's going to continue to be a problem but that's not easy either right you've got 30 million people roughly you got four five million North Koreans that actually have food the rest are kind of living as savages and you know it's one of the starkest things I've ever seen just some of the pictures that I've seen I've if you've ever been to the North South Korea border somebody that's from agriculture like myself to see where you know entire mountains are just stripped of everything is quite a it's it's one of the most lasting images in my mind of something I've seen in person as someone who's you know who's growing up in in agriculture and farming to see a whole mountain side just stripped you know meaning that you know they were eating and burning anything that they could just to just to stay stay warm so you know what's the what's the solution to the South North Korea issue you know I don't know we've been there for a long time got 25,000 troops sitting there and I think until you kind of solve that it makes it tougher to solve the bigger problems it does focus the mind the North Korea problem and there are rumors reports that are forth nuclear test is in the offing and that will clarify thinking among ourselves the Japanese and Koreans sure no I would just add that you know during President Obama's term he was the first president I believed a range and in person meeting between the leaders of the two nations there of course you know historical sensitivities between the two and that's something ultimately that they have to resolve on their own but that's the case with other nations throughout the world too and so it's not just Japan and South Korea but we ought to do everything that we can whether it's at the executive level to the president or the Congress to try to facilitate the relationship between Japan and South Korea because they are both strong allies and they both have they both share deep concerns about others in the region and if we get TPP done with Japan and the 12 current partners it's a pretty good chance that South Korea is going to lock in based on the US Korea chorus FTA as well so we'll have a lot in common I think we have microphones and I'm happy to ask questions I'm a Glenn Fukushima with the Center for American Progress I have a question for each of the members of Congress first for Congressman Castro can you tell us what specifically you think the caucus can do to specifically for their US Japan relations in particular I'm thinking about is can we expect the caucus for instance to take a leadership role in getting TPA passed so that we can go on with the TPP I mean what what specifically say over the next two or three years can we expect from the caucus in terms of promoting US Japan relations and for Congressman Nunes I'm from California and I used to work at USTR actually back in the 1980s and Mike Green and Matthew Goodman were student interns in my office at the time so I'm very pleased to be here today I feel very old but my specific question is the following when I was at USTR from 85 to 90 it was during the Reagan and the Bush administration when we had trade negotiations to Japan usually the pattern was that the Congress would put pressure on the administration and on Japan so that the administration could conclude trade agreements which often were very difficult very contentious what I heard you saying is that you're putting the blame on not concluding TPP on the administration which makes it makes it very difficult for the administration on the trip that the president took to Asia and I happen to be in Japan at that time I was a bit concerned because it seemed that Mr. Abe president Prime Minister Abe pretty much got everything he wanted from the president in terms of Senkaku in terms of collective self-defense a number of other things that I think that Mr. Abe was seeking to get the president got almost nothing out of that trip it seems I think it it might have been reasonable to expect that Japan would make some significant concessions so that a breakthrough could be reached on TPP not a final conclusion but some major breakthrough but what responsibility do you think Japan has to go the extra mile to conclude the agreement without you know putting all the blame on the administration thank you sure well I think that the caucus can be a facilitator of conversations between the administration and the rest of Congress of course there's the committee that's also committed to that that will take up the bill you know part of the concern among members of Congress with the administration and I should say that Ambassador Froman has gone out of his way to make presentations to members of Congress both individually and in groups but part of the concern has been the disclosure on TPP and not being able to you know people want to be able to read these things and it's been kind of let out in sections but I think that you know the caucus can play a role in facilitating those discussions and you know and I think at base I think the role of the caucus is also to highlight the importance of Japan and the American economy the more that folks throughout the Congress appreciate the role that Japan plays in our economy I think the more supportive they will be of trade with Japan generally I would I would add to that to the the other caucuses that I've been involved with it really gives the the country meaning the the country like in this case Japan it gives them a great way to get access into the Congress so a lot of times what Joaquin I find ourselves doing is we have a lot of meetings that we set up with our with our counterparts from Japan so today I know that we're meeting with I think two delegations that are coming in this afternoon and so I think it makes it really easy to have to have kind of a common friendly group of folks that will help even if we disagree with our Japanese friends at least they have an entree to get set up the right meetings because a lot of times and we find ourselves when we visit other foreign countries you know we don't necessarily know who exactly it is that we need to meet with so a lot of times if we have a delegation coming in we'll try to make sure that they meet with the right either somebody within the executive branch or or in the legislative branch as it relates to the agreement I think I was I was pretty clear on what the Japanese need to do and that is that I can understand without TPA why it's hard to bring it an agreement to conclusion because I don't believe that we want to put any of our friends allies that are part of TPP that all have to we understand what it is to run for for office trade agreements can be beat up by both sides and if you end up with something that gets out there and it sits well then it becomes a punching bag for politicians that I'm sure that's the same case in Japan and many of our other countries in the TPP but I will say that you know the state again we're not going to have an agreement that's going to leave a bunch of products on the sidelines as it relates to tariffs time is good but getting to zero is most important and I think until until we get TPA it's going to be tough to get those final agreements because I think once we get the agreement then we've got to make sure that it gets to all of all of the respective governments to make sure it gets passed sign-in-law implemented I should add that although Matt Goodman and I were interns for Glenn in the US China 1980s we were not personally responsible for the trade wars mostly and this narrative is very curious that somehow I find myself as a former Bush White House guy rising in defense president Obama but I find this narrative that he was tricked curious because the statement on the Senkaku's and on the security tree and our collective self-defense on its own merits was in US interests and people often forget one of the most important things in the president's agenda right now Ukraine and Crimea you know Prime Minister Abe has signed up it's the US EU and Japan but that narratives out there it definitely is you hear quite a bit yes sir right there I mean I mean keep coming and then thanks Peshi from a voice of America while President Obama's remarks during his Japan trip over the Senkaku's and the deluge made some Japanese made Tokyo very happy and Beijing very unhappy but before I came to this conference I read a long article in the Japanese business journal Japanese business press telling the Japanese oh don't get it too complacent don't get it too happy then the president Obama repeat repeatedly said that his remarks over Senkaku's are not new at all the Japanese US Japanese a security treaty covers the Senkaku's covers the Senkaku's and in the treaty it said that the US will react to that tax on the territories territories under Japanese administration according to the US according to each country's constitution and the article warned that that means the promise or the president Obama's remarks about the Senkaku's do not necessarily mean that the US will immediately automatically come to defend Japan when the Senkaku's are under tax it all depends on the US Congress because US Congress has the authority to declare and you want the congressman's reaction yeah yeah yeah thank you well I would say that at the end of the day if the Chinese continue to do these incursions and continue to run rough shot in in the South China Sea I think you're gonna end up you know they don't want to push us too far and I think ultimately the Chinese will not but I thought the president was was pretty clear and and I think precise that you know none of us want to have this conflict the Chinese are obviously you know they're poking the beehive for some reason I wish they would stop but they seem to be really promoting nationalism and which is fine but it just seems like it's counterproductive to what we really need to see in a global economy but I didn't have any problem with with president Obama I think drew a pretty clear picture of what we would do and not do I think the most important thing the United States can do in the region is to make sure that tensions don't flare up to the point where it becomes necessary to take action and I think the president's trip was part of that and you know and as I said we is all of us know we have deep relationships with China also economically and so you know but I think the president was clear that the United States will defend Japan technically the US Congress is supposed to approve every military action that is taken but you know as is custom a United States president not just this one but presidents in prior years you know are very clear about what our commitments are to other countries into our allies and I think President Obama made that clear none of our study trees none of them not with NATO not with cream none of them trigger automatic reactions commander chief the president the Congress have a role and it's true for the prime minister and the Japanese diet I had a question over here thank you Steve Landy Manchester trade I have one short question on Japan a one short question on agenda for the for the current Congress having been involved in trade negotiations is 1960 so you go back a little bit and still getting over the shock of Ambassador Strauss who was such a leader and there's no longer with us unfortunately and so on my feeling is that most negotiations go on and on and then there's a deal made I think the US Achilles heel in terms of agriculture is our position on sugar and as you know on sugar we did not go to zero duty with the Australians and so on Australia's made agreement with Japan so I think that will be resolved and so on but I'm kind of curious my more general agenda question is that I'm also concerned about chairman camps legacy as I am with Mr. Obama's legacy and I'm trying to figure out what we can do in this session of Congress that we can do particularly of TPP is and TPA are delayed until lame dog or something like that and the one issue which I think is right for the plucking is a goa they had just been a study by the US ITC African Union has come out with a study they talk about what has to be done it's the only one of the few bipartisan issues that people can focus on we have a threat from Japan from who a threat from China I'm back in the 1970s a threat from China and a threat from the European Union with their preferential agreements is there any chance that you could consider perhaps having a hearing on a goa since we now have this US ITC report maybe in June so once we have that hearing then it becomes part of the congressional melee and we can move forward and as you know your committee has always been the hero of a goa and so in the trade subcommittee really is more responsible people don't say it too often than Bill Clinton's administration nothing against Bill Clinton's administration but pro-trade so it's curious is there any chance about all of these things happening that maybe we might have a hearing in June and then we could really roll up if we do not renew a goa this year we will have the same disruption to you where to African exports and textiles as we had a couple years ago so it should be done this year and we have the Obama summit to push us along thank you well you must be I guess I'll answer this question since it's always been a question you must be sneaking into our meetings or something must be some leaks I think because we're planning on having an a goa hearing later in the year this summer and I actually think that trade has become even over my time in Congress has become a very bipartisan issue you see more and more a Democrat supporting trade and you see the American people supporting trade as it relates you know directly to a goa we've got a number of issues that are languishing in terms of GSP of the MTV miscellaneous tariffs bill not to mention obviously we've already talked about TPA these are all issues that need to be dealt with by the by the Congress and and I and it is the responsibility of the Congress to get some of these done but you have to have a push sometimes and especially by the leaders of both parties to push people in the direction that they need to get to to do the right thing for the American people and not to belabor this anymore but but I just think that there is a big divide between you know the White House and the and the Senate which is great problems oh sugar yeah yeah I agree I mean I think it is I think you you hit on the head I think it is an Achilles Hill but you know that was a prior agreement so you know I don't think you will see anything similar you're not seeing the US pushing a similar policy with any of the other countries that I'm aware of yeah and I would just point out you know on this issue and many others that have nothing to do with trade or the US or Japan I think you know one of the deepest challenges in getting things done this year is that after July 31st the last five months of the year we're in session 26 days for the last five months of the year so you know for example people in Texas ask me about immigration reform or tax reform and I tell them you know it's gonna be tough after July 31st because we're in session two days here three days here and then you know we're off all of August we're back home in our districts we're back home in our districts in October because it's an election year and then you've got the holidays so if there's something that you want to push you got to push it now yes my name is Kanji Amano-chan the Minister for Economic Affairs of the Japanese Embassy and I really appreciate today's discussion and today's discussion is pretty much focusing on the trade and security so I would like to take up the news of angle of the US-Japan relations and actually the when President Obama visited Tokyo and issues a joint statement and fact sheet and they put sort of here bring the new perspective of the US-Japan cooperation on global agendas like a global warming women's empowerment and development and those issues are also very important for our two countries to focusing on to help the country in need and that much possibility for the widening and deepening our alliance so I would like to ask you a comment on those issues thank you so the president's joint statement with the Prime Minister included a big focus on global issues women's empowerment climate change development sure and what is that part of the agenda for the caucus or something you'd like to turn to sure no absolutely and you know in one of the wonderful things that Prime Minister Abe has done is his womanomics initiative in Japan in getting more women into the workforce and you know of course we we still battle with some of those issues here in the United States but certainly on energy issues and energy development that's very important so you know I think I think the caucus will be taking on not just trade issues but also a host of issues where the nations can find common ground well and as I said earlier even the really the key to the caucus is not necessarily you were always gonna have but we'll agree we'll disagree as all of us do in the in the Congress and this is not it shouldn't be seen as is like a lobbying arm for for you know certain issues really if anything it's just a it it it allows for Japan and the US to have a a a cordial and interactive relationship with with the two between the two governments and that's how I see our role primarily not it's not necessarily issue specific only that to the to the people that are supposed to do that we have enough problems on the real opportunity is convening power it sounds like both between the Japanese parliamentarians very important the parliamentarian link is is critical between two allies that are democracies and it's atrophied a bit over the years and but also it sounds like with the scholarly community economic groups it's really the the focus that you both bring in the 70 and hopefully presumably more members to this relationship and getting people to focus on the range of these issues I'd add proliferation I mean the US and Japan signed a very important deal on controlling plutonium in the Higgs there's a lot of a lot of stuff I'm not trying to make you nervous with your 26 days between now and the end of the year but there are a lot of things you can work on please right here yes I'm Bonner from Public Citizen I also have a question about trade promotion authority hot topic 60 members of Congress recently sent a letter to the Obama administration calling for a full elimination of agricultural tariffs under the TPP and I think these are 60 members of Congress that the administration is counting on for support for trade promotion authority given that there has been some opposition I think 151 Democrats in the House and some Republicans have voiced opposition but Prime Minister Abe think it's under a lot of political pressure and has kind of rejected elimination of agricultural tariffs so I guess my question is do you think it's possible to get TPA without the first getting the elimination of agricultural tariffs in Japan well I think you mean to get the TPP finished I think you said TPA but I just don't feel all the countries can actually put their best deal on the table until TPA is done but there's some that there's some reassurance that that ultimately the the legislation or the agreements will get ratified by the all the countries involved all the parties involved as it relates to it's not just agriculture but I think you know this is we have no interest in going backwards in in these trade agreements and I think if you start to leave products off that would be going backwards in my opinion so obviously we're continuing we're looking on the readouts from the meetings we'll be meeting with USTR and then those of us that are involved in in trade specifically on the ways of the meeting's committee we'll be going back with recommendations to the administration on how to proceed we have time for one last very quick question yes thank you congressman for doing this and thank you very much mr. Green for this opportunity my name is Wada I'm with Japan's mainstream newspaper and my question is about the Caucasus role do you have any particular ideas about what you are going to do in the field of Japan's security cooperation any concrete projects and also if you have any opinion about this recent discussion in Japan about whether the country should be allowed to use a right to go to self-defense that's my question thank you sure let me let me take the latter question first you know I believe the United States sees it as a positive step that Japan would be able to have more military authority beyond what they've had since World War two in the second part of your first part on the caucus you know as Devin mentioned I think you know there are different things that we can do we we have an opportunity to convene people we have opportunity to receive Japanese delegations and also report back to our members about those meetings and also to highlight the issues that are important between our two nations and communicate with the administration what we're hearing from our members and so that's the role that we intend to play as that kind of intermediary you know as these issues come up I actually agree in terms of on the defense side that it's helpful if Japan could add as you see China continuing to build their military apparatus you know we don't want to we don't unfortunately we don't want to be in this military build-up type of scenario but because the Chinese continue to do it I think it's helpful that the Japanese can make sure that they can build some deterrence of their of their own obviously in conjunction with the existing security relationship that we have and as it relates to the caucus I think just to just to say it one more time the key is is to have a an open door policy between the two governments you know a lot of these caucuses are sometimes called the I think like I chair the co-chair of the Mexico caucus which we call the US Mexico friendship caucus and you know I think that's a good way to put it I mean this is really about friends being able to get together I want to thank you both for coming today and for your leadership in forming this caucus you clearly have come hand to the relationship and you're going to help bring a lot of people on board in the Congress Matt Goodman I both grew up inside the beltway we've been passionate about Japan since we were since we were kids but we this is a bit of a bubble as I'm sure you know and this caucus I have a feeling is going to play a really important role not just inside the beltway but really deepening the roots across the country it's very interesting as I said that you have members not just from the West Coast but all across the US so kudos and thank you very much thank you