I'll start off there, Mr. Chair, because what happened last week in the House of Representatives is that the House of Representatives of the United States refused fast-track approval, and by changing that fast-track rule, essentially they've put off any obligation to hold the vote. Most members of the House of Representatives are opposed to the deal. That's been very, very clear. There is no longer any obligation for house leadership to actually bring that vote forward. So Mr. Cardin's comments about the fact that the United States' elected representatives have pushed this off because this is a deal that is so controversial is very legitimate.
So I ask the panel this. You have been following events in the United States, and the fact is that this has been perceived by many observers as being a de facto rejection of the agreement--you do understand that?