Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today commended the leaders of the Finance Committee for requesting a study of the benefits of inviting the United Kingdom to join the North American Free Trade Agreement. The study, which was sought by Gramm, will be conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission and is due in nine months.

"I want to thank my colleagues on the Finance Committee for taking this step," Gramm said. "I have long believed that both the United States and Great Britain would benefit from freer trade between our two countries. We already have strong financial and historic ties; now it's time to further our relationship. The success of NAFTA provides the blueprint for a more open trade agreement with Britain, and I look forward to receiving the ITC's report on how this will benefit all parties."

Click here to read the two-page letter from the Finance Committee