January 16, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 10 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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STATEMENT ON THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO-CANADA AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 10
(Senate - January 16, 2020)
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[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. ____________________
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