[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 7, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S34-S35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



              United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement

  Madam President, you may recall at the end of 2018--not 2019 but at 
the end of 2018--President Trump notified Congress that he would soon 
provide us with implementing legislation for the newly signed United 
States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. We call it the USMCA.
  At that moment, at the end of 2018, our colleagues in the House were 
put on notice that this highly anticipated and desperately needed 
legislation was on its way. Get ready. It is coming to you. At that 
moment, the House majority leadership was presented with the 
opportunity to prioritize American workers over partisan politicking. 
What was their choice? Their choice was to choose partisan politicking 
and leave the American workers on the sideline, leave these auto 
manufacturing workers on the sideline while they focused in on partisan 
bickering. We all know what happened.
  In 2019, petty revenge schemes took priority and trade relations with 
our closest allies were shoved aside to accommodate a yearslong 
campaign. As I said at the beginning of my remarks, for 3 years they 
have wanted to undo the 2016 election.
  In May, instead of prioritizing the creation of nearly 176,000 jobs, 
House Democrats decided to spend their time drafting subpoenas. In 
June, instead of focusing on the 12 million jobs already depending on 
good trade relations with Canada and Mexico, House Democrats held four 
votes on these subpoenas.
  It was the same story in July, in August, and in September. House 
Democrats pushed forward with their impeachment ambitions at all costs. 
They had to do it. They had made a promise that they were going to go 
get him. They neglected the owners of over 120,000 American small 
businesses that export goods throughout North America. They put 
themselves and their priorities before the needs of the American 
people.
  Even as late as October, the Speaker of the House continued to stall, 
inventing excuse after excuse when it came to pushing the USMCA 
negotiations to the sidelines in favor of partisan attacks. Even 
Members of her own caucus sought to distance themselves from those 
attacks.
  By the end of the year, the House majority's resolve to ignore their 
duty, finally began to splinter.
  They struck a deal with the White House, but even then, the 
compromises they pushed for were barely, hardly worth wasting an entire 
year's worth of potential economic opportunity. There was a lot of 
opportunity cost to businesses to make way for House Democrats' 
partisan bickering.
  We have brokered successful trade deals with Japan, with China--deals 
that America's farmers, manufacturers, producers, and small businesses 
have waited for, for a very long time. Now, after a year's worth of 
delays, excuses, and outright obstruction on the part of House 
Democrats, we are forced to ask those farmers and workers to wait just 
a little bit longer. It isn't fair, and it certainly is not what is 
best for our Nation's economy and certainly not what is best for 
Tennessee.
  In the coming weeks, I encourage my colleagues to stay focused on 
policies that may not dominate the headlines but that are dominating 
the thoughts of Tennesseans from one end of the State to the other and 
certainly of Americans all across this country who are looking for 
trade opportunities and opportunities to grow their businesses in this 
robust and growing economy.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.

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