[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S265-S266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 STATEMENT ON THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO-CANADA AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION 
                                  ACT

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, trade with Canada and Mexico is vitally 
important to Maine's economy, supporting numerous small businesses and 
more than 53,000 jobs in our State.
  In reviewing the text of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the 
replacement for the deeply flawed NAFTA, my paramount concern was 
ensuring that Maine workers will be protected. After careful assessment 
of the benefits USMCA will have for those employed in Maine's 
manufacturing industry, agriculture sector, and small businesses, I 
will vote in support of the USMCA.
  According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, USMCA is 
projected to have a positive impact on all broad industry sectors, 
increasing employment by 176,000 jobs and increasing real GDP by $68.2 
billion. This agreement also makes important improvements to labor and 
environmental standards and brings these issues into the core of the 
agreement. This is a step in the right direction for modernizing trade 
agreements.
  Dana Connors, president & CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, 
said:

       Our border countries are important trade partners for Maine 
     businesses, in fact, trade with our friends to the north is 
     vital to many Maine businesses on a daily basis. The Maine 
     State Chamber of Commerce thanks Senator Collins for her 
     support of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). 
     The USMCA's passage is vital for Maine businesses, will 
     restore trade uncertainty and help our economy to continue to 
     thrive.

  One out of five Maine manufacturing firms exports to Canada and 
Mexico, and the majority of these are small- and medium-sized 
companies. Without tariff-free trade, Maine's manufactured goods 
exported to Canada and Mexico could face $6.3 million to $26 million in 
additional tariffs, jeopardizing Maine jobs. Companies like New 
Balance, which employs hundreds of Mainers at its facilities in 
Norridgewock, Norway, and Skowhegan, and Texas Instruments in South 
Portland, depend on a stable North American supply chain.
  Amy Dow, director of public relations and government relations for 
New Balance, said:

       On behalf of our company's Maine associates, New Balance 
     supports the passage of the USMCA that will enable the 
     continued success and future growth of our three 
     manufacturing facilities in Maine. Senator Collins' support 
     and leadership on this trade agreement has been vital to 
     ensure that our factories can continue to produce thousands 
     of pairs of shoes annually for export to the Canadian market.

  Stephen Bonner, Texas Instruments vice president for worldwide 
government relations, said:

       Texas Instruments is a long-time supporter of predictable, 
     open-market based trade policies. We're pleased that the new 
     USMCA includes strong digital trade and intellectual property 
     provisions to adapt the agreement to the 21st century 
     economy, and support its passage.

  Our agricultural producers also rely on a stable and predictable 
trading environment. U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico 
more than quadrupled between 1993 and 2017. In Maine, I have heard from 
producers in the dairy, potato, and wild blueberry industries who have 
shared their support for free and fair trade agreements.
  Maine has a special relationship with Canada in particular, given our 
shared border. While there remain frictions with Canada, including 
fishing rights, right whale regulations, and softwood lumber issues, 
Canada is our largest trading partner and has consistently been our top 
U.S. export market. As a native of Aroostook County, I know how many of 
our border communities are truly intertwined, with people and goods 
traveling back and forth daily. In 2019, Maine and Canada traded an 
average of $350 million in goods per month.
  Ambassador Robert Lighthizer deserves recognition for his tremendous 
work on this agreement. It is impressive to see a trade agreement 
receive such strong bipartisan support.


                        Vote on Motion to Waive

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is expired.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion to waive.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). Are there any other 
Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 78, nays 21, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 13 Leg.]

                                YEAS--78

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Loeffler
     Manchin
     Markey
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--21

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Braun
     Cassidy
     Cruz
     Enzi
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Paul
     Perdue
     Romney
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Inhofe
       
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 78, the nays are 
21. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to, and the point of order falls.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will read the title of the bill for 
the third time.
  The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds 
for me and 1 minute for Senator Wyden for closing remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the United States-Mexico-Canada 
Agreement is a major achievement for President Trump and a very big 
bipartisan win for the American people. We should all take care, 
Republican or Democrat, that this is good. I look forward to signing 
this bill and sending it to the President's desk.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, when the Trump administration unveiled 
their

[[Page S266]]

original version of this proposal, it was stunning to see how weak it 
was in terms of trade enforcement. When you write a proposal with weak 
trade enforcement, particularly on labor and environmental issues, you 
sell out American workers and you launch a corporate race to the bottom 
of cheap wages and the treatment of labor.
  Senator Brown and I decided that was unacceptable, and we were going 
to create a trade enforcement regime with real teeth. We worked with 
Senators here; we worked with Senators on the other side of the aisle 
and in the other body. To give you an example of what this means with 
respect to enforcing trade law, we sped up the timeline by more than 
300 percent.
  The second point--just very quickly--what this proposal does is bring 
technology and trade policy into the 21st century. When the last North 
American Free Trade Agreement was considered, nobody had a smartphone. 
So what we did is protect intellectual property; we prohibited 
shakedowns of data belonging to innovative companies; and on something 
I care deeply about, we drew on established U.S. law to defend small 
tech entrepreneurs working to build successful companies in a field 
dominated by Goliaths.
  I urge my colleagues to support this proposal and once again thank 
Bob Lighthizer, the hardest working man in the trade agreement 
business.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall the bill pass?
  Mr. WICKER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 89, nays 10, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 14 Leg.]

                                YEAS--89

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Loeffler
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--10

     Booker
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Markey
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Toomey
     Whitehouse

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Inhofe
       
  The bill (H.R. 5430) was passed.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.

                          ____________________