Political Quotes

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I rise to discuss some issues with Senator Coons' request for unanimous consent for the Senate to pass S. 348, the STABLE Trade Policy Act. Senator Coons is a good friend and a great ally, and, reluctantly, I stand to oppose this motion on this particular procedure. First, Senator Coons and I agree about much on trade policy, including the need for the United States to have more high-standard free-trade agreements, like the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, or USMCA. We should ensure that the commitments in those agreements are respected. The last administration not only refused to negotiate new trade agreements but undermined U.S. rights under them when it waived our intellectual property rights under the WTO TRIPS Agreement and without informing Congress, attempting to remove the rights of American investors under the USMCA. Second, I also agree that we should not undertake tariff actions lightly on our allies or free-trade agreement partners. We should, however, take care before we say that all options are completely off the table. In fact, all of our free-trade agreements provide exceptions for when parties can remove economic benefits, including on national security grounds. I don't recall anyone suggesting that the Biden administration could not impose sanctions on Nicaragua last year because it was a CAFTA party.…”