[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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              UNITED STATES-MEXICO-CANADA TRADE AGREEMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on an entirely different matter, 
before we turn to the trial in earnest, the Senate has one more major 
accomplishment to deliver to the American people.
  Yesterday we began floor consideration of the most significant update 
to the North American trade policy in nearly 30 years. In just a couple 
of hours, we are going to pass the USMCA and send it to President Trump 
for his signature.
  It was back in 2018 when the Trump administration finalized its talks 
with the Governments of Mexico and Canada. This has been a major 
priority for the President and for many of us in both Houses of 
Congress.
  That is because American livelihoods in every corner of every State 
depend on these critical trading relationships. Farmers, growers, 
cattlemen, manufacturers, small businesses, big businesses--this is a 
major step for our whole country.
  In the 26 years since the ratification of NAFTA, trade with Mexico 
and Canada has come to directly support 12 million American jobs--12 
million workers and their families who depend on robust trade with our 
North American neighbors. Our neighbors to the north and south purchase 
half a trillion dollars in American goods and services every single 
year. That includes more than a quarter of all the food and 
agricultural products we export. Take my home State of Kentucky as an 
example. Mexico and Canada buy $300 million of agricultural exports 
from Kentucky growers and producers every year. They buy $9.9 billion 
of our State's manufacturing exports--and on and on. Commerce with our 
neighbors is essential across the board.
  No wonder experts estimate that USMCA would create 176,000 new 
American jobs. No wonder they predict it will yield tens of billions of 
dollars in economic growth. No wonder farmers, ranchers, steelworkers, 
and manufacturers across our country have been so eager to see the 
USMCA signed, sealed, and delivered. In one recent letter, Kentucky 
farmers told me: ``We need the agreement ratified, and we need it to 
happen now.''
  I know my colleagues have been hearing the same thing from their home 
States. Republicans, Democrats, Senators, Representatives--our incoming 
has been the same: Get this deal passed. Failure is not an option.
  Of course, for far too long, our counterparts in the House kept all 
these Americans waiting. It took more than a year and a lot of pressure 
from Senate Republicans to get the Speaker of the House to stop 
blocking the trade deal and finally let the House vote on it. Late last 
year, she finally relented. It passed by a big bipartisan margin, of 
course, and I now expect that kind of vote will repeat itself here in 
the Senate.
  I am especially grateful to our colleagues and counterparts who got 
this across the finish line: to the U.S. Trade Representative, Bob 
Lighthizer, and his hard-working team, led by his chief of staff, 
Jamieson Greer; to Chairman Grassley for leading the bipartisan effort 
in the Senate Finance Committee and his trade team, led by Nasim 
Fussell; to Ranking Member Wyden and his trade counsel, Jayme White, 
and all of our Finance Committee colleagues and staff; and to the 
chairmen of our other committees of jurisdiction who worked nimbly to 
get this done.
  I want to thank the exceptional Cloakroom staff--in particular, 
Christopher Tuck.
  I would like to thank members of my own team whose efforts were 
invaluable, most especially my chief economic policy council, Jay 
Khosla, whose role in securing this agreement has been absolutely 
essential; Ali Nepola in my personal office; Erica Suares and my 
leadership policy advisers; and, of course, their fearless leaders, 
Sharon Soderstrom, my chief of staff, and my deputy chief of staff for 
policy, Scott Raab.
  Of course, I am most grateful to President Trump for prioritizing, 
negotiating, and delivering on this major promise. Today the Senate 
will send this landmark agreement to the President's desk--a big 
bipartisan win. It comes the very same week as President Trump also 
signed phase one of his administration's trade agreement with China--
quite a week of substantive accomplishments for the Nation, for the 
President, and for our international trade. Both of these measures will 
only add to all the other Republican policies of the past 3 years that 
have helped generate this historically strong economic moment for 
working Americans and for their families.
  I would urge every one of our colleagues to join me in voting to pass 
the USMCA.

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