WASHINGTON – House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter issued the following statement today, following a meeting at the White House to discuss trade issues. Slaughter was one of 12 lawmakers invited to meet with President Obama to review the Administration’s recent trade-oriented meetings in Asia and ongoing negotiations on the Korea Free Trade Agreement.

“Today was a constructive and positive meeting to review what I see as a flaw in our current trade policies. I believe we can work toward a better agreement that will accomplish what we all want: creating jobs for Americans and opening markets. That said, I’m glad that President Obama stood forcefully last week against a flawed Free Trade Agreement with Korea drafted by the last Administration. A bad deal is not better than no deal at all. The existing Korea FTA does not provide reciprocal market access for U.S. companies – which should be the starting point for anything we sign. I hope that we use this meeting as a first step for a better trade policy and stand ready and willing to work collaboratively toward that end.”