[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7658-H7662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 UNITED STATES-MEXICO-CANADA AGREEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Estes) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Kansas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, throughout our district work period, I 
visited farms, ranches, manufacturing plants, and small businesses 
where people all said the same thing: It is time to pass the USMCA now. 
Farmers, ranchers, and workers in Kansas understand how important this 
monumental trade deal is, and they want it done now.
  On November 30, 2018, the United States, Mexico, and Canada signed a 
monumental free and fair trade agreement for our countries. Since then, 
Mexico has made significant labor reforms and adopted the USMCA, while 
Canada is not far behind.
  Unfortunately, here at home, the USMCA is stuck in purgatory. 
Congress failed to bring the USMCA to a vote over the summer, while 
some of

[[Page H7659]]

my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to slow walk and 
delay a vote to ratify the USMCA.

  While my colleagues may want to deny, or at least delay, any victory 
for President Trump, the only people hurt by delaying the USMCA are 
hardworking American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and families.
  Currently, more than 12 million American jobs depend on trade with 
Canada and Mexico. As is the case for 45 other States, Canada and 
Mexico are Kansas' top two trading partners, worth $4.9 billion every 
year, while supporting 110,000 jobs in my State alone. This impact 
underscores just how important the USMCA is for our country.
  According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the USMCA will 
create 176,000 new jobs and increase U.S. GDP by $68 billion. Exports 
to USMCA partners will grow by $33.3 billion, and imports from the 
USMCA partners will grow by $31.5 billion.
  Overall, the update to NAFTA will create jobs, boost wages, and open 
up new markets for American agriculture and manufacturing. It also sets 
unprecedented standards for areas like intellectual property, small 
businesses, and the environment.
  This is a significant improvement over NAFTA, which was actually 
beneficial to my district in Kansas, especially for our farmers, 
ranchers, and aerospace manufacturers. However, the 25-year-old NAFTA 
agreement was outdated and badly in need of reform and modernization.
  Consider that, when NAFTA was first negotiated in 1992, Motorola cell 
phones were carried around in a bag, and just one in five households 
had a home computer. Even fewer than that could connect to a dial-up 
internet in order to access the world wide web, which had just been 
unveiled in 1991.
  Clearly, a lot has changed in the last 25 years, and our laws and 
trade deals should change as well.
  As Representative of the Air Capital of the World and the breadbasket 
of America, I know that USMCA is critical for manufacturers, farmers, 
and ranchers throughout Kansas and our country. That is why I am proud 
to serve today on the whip team, led by Whip   Steve Scalise, to help 
get the USMCA finalized in Congress.
  Earlier today, our team met with Ambassador Lighthizer to receive an 
update on negotiations, and I want to take a moment to again thank him 
and the entire administration for the work they did to draft the USMCA. 
Now it is time for Congress to do its part to secure this free and fair 
trade deal that farmers, ranchers, workers, and families in the 
heartland and throughout the country deserve.
  As a fierce advocate for free and fair trade, I believe a trade 
agreement with Canada and Mexico is crucial for Kansas and our country. 
However, President Trump is right to insist that trade deals both be 
fair and free.
  Free trade allows us to export our quality agriculture and 
manufactured goods around the globe, while fair trade enables us to do 
so at a fair price without intellectual property infringement. The 
USMCA accomplishes both of these goals.
  I have several Members here with me tonight who also want to talk. I 
want to talk some more about some of the other benefits that are out 
there from the USMCA, but right now, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), my friend and colleague.
  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the good gentleman for bringing this 
issue to light and for holding this Special Order, and, of course, my 
colleagues who are with me here today.
  All of us who are probably older than the age of 25 have watched, 
probably in every State in the Union, certainly in the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, every little town that you drove through in the State 
that I am privileged to represent, every little town had some small 
business, or maybe two or three: a shoe factory, a dress factory. One 
of the little towns south of us had a cigar factory or two.
  Over the course of my adult lifetime, those little factories, those 
small employers in every single town have left. The reason they left is 
multiple, but one of them is because the trade deals that were signed 
by previous administrations encouraged them to leave. They encouraged 
our competitors to take them over, and we closed up shop. We lost those 
jobs. Our folks in America had to go find work elsewhere and get 
retraining elsewhere.
  It has been 25 years since NAFTA was enacted. Twenty-five years is a 
long time. Things were different 25 years ago. There wasn't e-commerce. 
We weren't all thinking about a globalized economy.
  Now these antiquated laws that we are living under are holding back 
our American economy. If we would just pass the USMCA--it is in the 
hands of the Speaker right now. If we would just pass it, 176,000 new 
jobs, $68 billion in growth to our economy.
  Instead of being worried about trading with China and being concerned 
with what China is going to do, we could trade with people we really 
agree with who are right on the other side of our border: Canada and 
Mexico. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
  We need to modernize our laws, and that starts by allowing the USMCA 
to go through. That framework should be considered today. We need free 
and fair trade. We don't have that right now.
  We must pass the USMCA to bolster quality, family-sustaining jobs in 
America, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and other States around 
our country.
  The USMCA is a win for the American worker. It is great to help out 
our neighbors around the globe, but our responsibility first is right 
here at home in our States, like the State of Pennsylvania where I am 
privileged to come from.
  The USMCA is a great start and a strategic win. Today I am calling on 
House leadership to allow for the consideration of the USMCA without 
any further delay. Let the chips fall where they may. Put it on the 
floor, and let's see what happens. I suspect it will pass, which means 
the will of the people will be done and we can get to work working more 
with our allies and our friends and doing better for Americans.

  Quite honestly, while China is waiting to make a trade deal, one of 
the reasons they are waiting is because this Congress won't approve one 
in the USMCA. They are saying: Why should we come negotiate with 
America when their Congress won't approve what we negotiate?
  We need to show them that we will approve it; we do stand with the 
American people and the American worker. We need a better deal with 
China, too, and it starts with the USMCA.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing me the time and for 
bringing this issue to the forefront.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Perry said a lot of things that are 
really valid there and important to us.
  I have several other Members who want to talk about how important 
things are. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Balderson), my friend and colleague.
  Mr. BALDERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge this body's 
consideration of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or the 
USMCA, which has the support of both of our neighboring nations; the 
majority of our Nation's Governors, including Ohio's Governor Mike 
DeWine; more than 600 trade group organizations across the Nation; our 
current administration; a significant number of my colleagues both in 
the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate; and myself.
  The USMCA will support tens of millions of jobs across the United 
States. In my home State of Ohio, more than 428,000 jobs are supported 
by trade with Canada and Mexico.
  The livelihood of my constituents is directly impacted by the success 
of trade with our neighboring nations. Last year, nearly $28 billion 
worth of goods and services were exported from my home State of Ohio to 
Canada and Mexico.

                              {time}  1900

  These exports consist of iron, steel, motor vehicle parts, and 
machinery, much of which come from my district in central Ohio.
  Ohio is also the 12th largest agricultural exporting State. USMCA 
will make important improvements to secure greater market access for 
our farmers and will ensure the fair treatment of Ohio's agriculture 
products in the marketplace.
  With $28 billion in economic value and 428,000 Ohio jobs on the line, 
we simply cannot afford for the USMCA to fail. It is time to pass USMCA 
now.

[[Page H7660]]

  

  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Representative Balderson's 
efforts and involvement in this.
  I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman), my colleague.
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Kansas for yielding.
  I also rise today to speak urging consideration of USMCA.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been an elected official for a while, and even 
when I first began this job in the 1990s, I would get complaints from 
people as to why we couldn't do something about NAFTA.
  After four Presidents, we watched NAFTA be approved and watched jobs 
leave America. We finally have a President who is willing to do 
something about it. As mentioned before, this agreement is important 
for Wisconsin manufacturers and manufacturers all over the country. 
Wisconsin, of all of the States, has the second highest percent of our 
workforce involved in manufacturing, and that is why when I get home, I 
hear about the importance of this agreement so much.
  But as important as it is to manufacturing, the major reason why I 
wish so much this would be brought to the floor is when I go back home, 
I hear so much from my agriculture sector. This is important for your 
corn farmer, but it is even more important for your dairy farmer. Dairy 
is in the worst position it has been, I think, since I was in law 
school in the 1980s, and I was a law clerk for someone who had a 
primarily dairy clientele. It was so tough watching what these guys and 
gals went through in dairy in the 1980s.
  Now, due to low prices, we are back to where we again and again watch 
dairy farmers wondering whether they are going to be able to hang on 
for another week, another month without going under. And here we have 
this agreement, which has been sitting here waiting to be voted on, and 
we are not allowed to come in here and vote on it.
  I beg people. I realize that there may be some things you don't like 
about President Trump, but he has negotiated a very important agreement 
here, a very important agreement for manufacturers, a very important 
agreement for the agriculture sector, especially dairy.
  Please, do not let this agreement wait any more. Do not drive more 
people out of business just for partisan reasons. This is such a good 
agreement. It is so rare that we get a big improvement around here.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's time and 
participation in this very important topic tonight.
  Now I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert), my 
friend.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Kansas who 
represents my wife's family.
  Hopefully, I won't take a couple of minutes, but there were a couple 
of things as we were doing some economic numbers before.
  The modeling right now says if USMCA passes, it is another half a 
point on GDP growth. In a $21 trillion economy, that is real money, but 
it is also hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
  But there is even another complexity that I am going to ask for folks 
to think about. Think of the issues we have, particularly with China. 
So many of us would love to have a healthy relationship with China, but 
we don't believe they are playing by the WTO rules. They are breaking 
the rules.
  So we are seeing a world right now where lots of manufacturers are 
thinking about moving parts of their supply chain. Wouldn't it be an 
amazing thing that we do our job here, we get this trade agreement 
passed, and those components, those issues, parts of those supply 
chains are back here in North America? Our ability to say our 
continent, our trading block, our ability to not only have robust 
economies for ourselves, but these labor provisions.
  And this is the last thing I really wanted to hit on. The gentleman 
and I are on the whip team for passing this. We have had a number of 
visits with our brothers and sisters on the left. With a lot of them, I 
will get this: Well, David, I am concerned about the enforcement of the 
new labor standards that the Mexican Government has passed.
  Remember, their legislature has passed this. Their President has 
signed it. There are dramatic changes in their labor rules. I will 
bring them a copy and say: But you don't understand, it is not the 
1940s and 1950s anymore. You don't send in a team of union 
representatives to go inspect one of the 70,000-some facilities and 
inspect and then write up a report saying we don't think you are--in 
today's world, we have that thing called the internet.
  The law the Mexican Congress passed actually has provisions in there 
for privacy and secrecy and the ability to use technology that if you 
believe your labor rights are being abused in a Mexican factory, you 
can actually document it. You can actually put it on a blog and those 
things.
  So how do we drag our brothers and sisters from the left to actually 
walk away from the excuse of the labor improvement enforcement, and get 
them to understand that it is not the 1950s anymore; that now we are 
going to use technology and the ability to have these new labor 
standards in Mexico which can be enforced on a very large scale using 
technology?
  This is incredibly important to our economic growth, and our entire 
regions. Let's get this done.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for his 
comments. The gentleman pointed out so much about how important it is 
to get that economic growth so that we have got the value in the 
economy and how much effort that Mexico has made, already changing the 
laws in their country to make sure that it is a much more viable 
process for them, and it is more productive for them as well.

  Mr. Speaker, I come from Kansas, and specifically in my district, we 
have a lot of agriculture and a lot of issues there. And the USMCA is a 
great improvement for the agriculture area. It sets some unprecedented 
standards for agriculture, regulation, and biotechnology.
  It maintains duty-free access for American farmers in Mexico, and 
provides new access for U.S. wheat, eggs, dairy, and poultry. In fact, 
the International Trade Commission estimates an additional $277 million 
in increased dairy sales to our North American partners under USMCA. 
That is a 44 percent increase that will bring a much-needed lift to the 
U.S. dairy industry.
  Another area is manufacturing. USMCA maintains a duty-free access for 
U.S. manufactured goods and removes some of the existing barriers for 
remanufactured goods, opening up a lot of new markets for American 
products.
  It encourages U.S. manufacturing by requiring 75 percent of auto 
content to be produced in North America. The Office of the United 
States Trade Representative estimates that USMCA will add $34 billion 
in automotive investment and create 76,000 new American jobs.
  It also incentivizes higher wages, requiring 40 to 50 percent of auto 
content to be made by workers making at least $16 an hour, helping to 
boost wages across many manufacturing sectors.
  It requires Mexico to pass some sweeping labor reforms to improve 
standards there and create an even more even playing field for American 
labor. Mexico has already followed through and enacted these reforms 
which are already benefiting U.S. manufacturing.
  Canada and Mexico buy more products manufactured in America than our 
next 10 trading partners. Exports of manufactured goods to Canada and 
Mexico account for more than 2 million jobs across our country.
  As a representative of Wichita, I have seen firsthand how important 
it is that our manufacturers have access to global markets. 
Transportation equipment exports account for $2.7 billion last year, 
and the growth in manufactured goods, exports from Kansas, grew 8.5 
percent from 2010 to 2018.
  In addition, Kansas aerospace exports to Canada and Mexico have 
increased by more than 20 percent over the last decade, helping grow 
the total value of manufactured goods exported from Kansas to Canada 
and Mexico to $3.2 billion in 2018. These numbers underscore the 
importance of USMCA for American manufacturing.
  I wanted to mention that I have got some other representatives here 
who also have a big impact and a lot of value to add to that. Right now 
I would like to call on my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania.

[[Page H7661]]

  I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Kansas 
yielding to me.
  I stand before you today representing the outstanding people of 
Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District to call upon the Speaker to 
bring up and my colleagues to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada 
Agreement, otherwise known as USMCA.
  Back in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District during the August 
work month, I heard from our farmers our manufacturers, and energy 
producers, all of whom would benefit from the passage of the USMCA.
  Their message to me was clear: We need to complete this trade deal so 
we can continue hiring, growing wages, and keep this economy rolling. 
The benefits of the USMCA to our agriculture community are critical.
  Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District is home to over 10,500 
farms, 98 percent of which are family farms. Moreover, our district is 
responsible for 18 percent of Pennsylvania's agricultural sales.
  During August, I visited Brown Hill Farms in Tunkhannock. I met with 
dairy producers at an ag-dairy summit with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue 
and my colleague, Congressman G.T. Thompson.
  I also attended Penn State's AG Progress Days, Pennsylvania's largest 
outdoor agricultural exposition. At each visit, dairy producers said 
the same thing. The USMCA agreement would greatly benefit them by 
eliminating Canada's Class 7 milk, allowing American dairy farmers to 
once again sell milk ingredient products in Canada.
  Canada and Mexico have taken steps to finalize this agreement. What 
is stopping the United States from doing the same? Right now, the 
agreement is sitting on Speaker Pelosi's desk.
  Let's be clear. Failure to bring up the USMCA for a vote is a failure 
to stand up for American jobs, American workers, and American families.
  That is a shame because one thing that Members of Congress share is 
that we want to do what is best for our districts and for our country. 
Our constituents sent us here to work on things that will actually help 
people. USMCA will do that by prioritizing American jobs, American 
goods, and American workers.
  I thank Congressman Estes for organizing tonight's Special Order on 
USMCA. Let's work on things that can actually help people. Let's work 
on things that can have a positive impact. Let's pass the USMCA.
  Mr. Speaker, let's get this done.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's time and 
involvement in this.
  I would also now like to call on a friend of mine and colleague from 
the great State of Indiana.
  I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird).
  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from 
Kansas for allowing me to have the opportunity to speak on this 
important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my voice in support of the United 
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, better known as USMCA, which will 
expand markets for our farmers and manufacturers, while ensuring 
cheaper goods for Americans.
  In Indiana, our economy thrives because we are one of the larger 
manufacturing States in the country, and an agricultural center for the 
Nation. We make the steel that towers above the Nation's largest cities 
in skyscrapers. We build the cars that drive along the Nation's 
highways and byways, and we grow the crops that feed the Nation's 
citizens and livestock.
  We have built this economy, in part, through strong international 
relationships with countries as far away as Japan, and as close as 
Canada and Mexico. In fact, it is the partnerships with our closest 
neighbors to the north and south that are the strongest and most vital.
  In 2018, Canada was the Hoosier State's most significant 
international export market, purchasing 34 percent of all of the 
exports, for a total of $13 billion in products. The 72 Canadian 
companies which operate in Indiana employ over 15,600 citizens of our 
State.
  Mexico follows as our second biggest export market, purchasing 13.8 
percent of our exports, injecting $5.5 billion into the Hoosier 
heartland. There are 2,000 manufacturing firms and 61,000 jobs in 
Indiana who rely on exports to these countries.
  Beyond the strengthening of our export market, USMCA will also 
increase the percentage of cars that must be built in North America to 
75 percent and require that 40 percent of the auto content be built by 
workers earning $16 an hour or more.
  This is both a boon for manufacturers in the State and the Hoosier 
workers that are the lifeblood of our economy.

                              {time}  1915

  This legislation also opens up Canadian markets to our U.S. turkey 
and dairy products and ensures that our agricultural producers have 
access to Mexico's markets tariff-free.
  Right now, due to the international trade conditions like the current 
delay in this deal, Hoosier manufacturers are seeing their growth 
stymied. The Hoosier farmers are hurting as corn, soy, and pork markets 
have taken major hits in the past few years. The longer we wait, the 
worse it gets.
  Nearly every day I hear from constituents who are anxious to get this 
trade deal passed so that we can keep our economy in high gear. Our 
farmers and manufacturers in the Fourth District need this deal for 
both the certainty and the prosperity it will provide.
  USMCA will further expand prosperity and ensure that the strong 
economic growth we have seen in the past 3 years continues.
  Mr. Speaker, I will close with this: Allow us to vote.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Steube), who is my friend and colleague.
  Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, Florida, which I have the privilege of representing, 
relies on trade with Canada and Mexico to survive and thrive. From 
transportation equipment to machinery to agricultural products, in 2017 
alone, Florida exported $6.7 billion in goods to Canada and Mexico.
  We are not alone. Canada was the leading market for United States 
goods exported, followed closely by Mexico in 2017. These allies 
account for 34 percent of U.S. exports and 35 percent of U.S. imports. 
They are our strategic partners and an important part of our successful 
economy here in the United States.
  Continuing the long history of our successful trade relationship is 
essential to bringing the United States economy into the 21st century. 
That is why Congress should pass the USMCA. By implementing the USMCA, 
we would be creating 176,000 additional American jobs and continuing to 
grow our economy by over $68 billion.
  This agreement will protect American intellectual property, update 
our digital trade rules, enable data to be transferred cross-border, 
and expand markets for American agricultural products. USMCA maintains 
the successful duty-free access for American farmers in Mexico and 
opens the Canadian market up for the first time to American dairy, 
wheat, chicken, egg, and turkey products. American dairy producers 
alone would grow their access to up to 3.59 percent of the Canadian 
dairy market, and the dairy farmers in my district in the 17th District 
of Florida can use every little bit of an opportunity to sell their 
products.
  Improving USMCA will ease the uncertainty facing Florida farmers and 
ranchers, allowing them to make new investments to grow operations.
  This deal is a good deal for Florida and America, and it is time that 
the majority bring this important measure to the floor.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Marshall). Representative Roger Marshall is my fellow Kansan and 
colleague.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Speaker, I thank so much the gentleman, my friend 
and fellow colleague from Kansas, for leading on this issue and giving 
me the opportunity to speak about it.
  Certainly, times are very tough in agriculture, the toughest I have 
ever seen, the toughest, certainly, since the 1980s. The passage of 
USMCA, the NAFTA 2.0, is the single greatest thing

[[Page H7662]]

Congress could do for our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and 
workers.
  The President has delivered, and now it is time for Congress to 
deliver. Delaying the implementation of this program hurts agriculture 
across Kansas because the deal would enable Kansas producers to trade 
more commodities by opening the Canadian market up for American dairy, 
wheat, chicken, and eggs, some for the very first time.
  Additionally, this agreement will grow our business with our very top 
two customers, Mexico and Canada, meaning thousands of jobs and 
hundreds of millions of dollars in increased exports for Kansans.
  Finally, the unprecedented standards for agricultural biotechnology 
will support 21st-century innovations in agriculture and lay the 
groundwork for future agreements with other countries around the globe.
  Some of the brightest thinkers in the world are in America, but these 
innovators have been robbed of billions of dollars over the previous 
decades due to intellectual property theft. USMCA can't be delayed any 
longer, as new protections for intellectual property will drive 
innovation and create even more jobs by strengthening protection of 
patents, trademarks, and secrets.
  President Trump's USMCA also levels the playing field for workers in 
my State by expanding guarantees for the enforcement of labor 
protections across North America. Future economic growth and jobs for 
Kansas and America are increasingly dependent on expanding U.S. trade 
and investment opportunities in the global marketplace. President Trump 
has delivered this incredibly bipartisan deal, and it is long past time 
for Congress to bring it up for a vote to usher in a new era in 
American trade.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now time for us to bring USMCA to the floor.
  Mr. ESTES. Mr. Speaker, I thank all the Members who have joined us 
tonight.
  As President Trump has often pointed out, many of our trade deals 
have not always created the best outcomes for American workers and 
products, but by approving the USMCA, we can take one giant step in 
overhauling one of the most fundamental trade deals with our closest 
neighbors. We can also create a great template for success, especially 
if we turn our focus to improving trade relations with China and other 
countries.
  As we stated tonight, there is no time like the present to get 
started moving this process forward, making sure that every provision 
of the deal is enforceable so we can get the USMCA across the finish 
line. The cost of delay is too great for our farmers, ranchers, 
manufacturers, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and families.
  Again, I thank my colleagues for joining me tonight, and I ask this 
body to pass the USMCA now.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, if innovation is the lifeblood of our 
nation's economy, then the Dallas-Fort Worth region might very well be 
considered our country's heart. World-class research hospitals and 
several leading pharmaceutical companies call DFW home, where they 
create life-saving treatments while keeping our local economy strong. 
Their continued success, however, depends on their access to 
international marketplaces, especially those in Canada and Mexico. That 
is why passing the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or ``USMCA,'' 
is so important.
  One of the biggest concerns that I hear from innovators in my 
district is the protection of their intellectual property (IP) rights 
in the international marketplace. President Trump and Trade Ambassador 
Lighthizer have delivered on this issue by installing robust IP 
protections into this trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. The USMCA 
provisions that strengthen patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade 
secrets protections mean that innovators can spend less time worrying 
about protecting their IP rights and more time creating products and 
Texas jobs.
  Not only will this job creation boost the American and Texan 
economies, but it will also benefit two of our country's strongest 
trading partners. In 2017, Texas alone exported $127 billion in 
products to Canada and Mexico, with 72 percent of the materials 
imported by Texan manufacturers coming from those same countries. The 
Texas economy flourishes from its trade relationship with these 
countries, and in the end, trade with Mexico and Canada supports 
948,900 jobs in our state.
  Many Americans are already living in the strongest economy of their 
lifetimes, and the USMCA is critical to ensuring that our country's 
industries can continue to prosper and sell their goods freely and 
fairly across the globe. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
its passage and ask that it be brought up for a vote as soon as 
possible.

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