Political Quotes

“Ambassador Lighthizer, as I have said all along, we have perceived as an honest broker. I think he has dealt with us fairly and openly. Very frankly, we believe that the agreement that has now been finalized is substantially stronger and better than it was when it was first given to us for consideration. I say that in the sense that we took the position, and I have taken this position on the floor, the gentleman knows, that enforcement was critical. The Chamber of Commerce has said, if you have a trade agreement without effective enforcement, you don't have a real agreement. What we were able to achieve was, we think, real enforcement, which protects workers, which protects the environment, which protects other aspects of the agreement. We also are pleased that some of the things that were in the bill that we thought were harmful to consumers, in particular, were dropped. But it was an honest negotiation, as the whip has pointed out. It was a hard negotiation, not so much between Mr. Lighthizer and ourselves, but between Mr. Lighthizer and some of the other interest groups, including our friends in Mexico. We have now reached that agreement. Hopefully, we can pass this next week. Our friends in labor have endorsed this agreement. The Maryland/ D.C. AFL-CIO has endorsed this agreement because they have the confidence that, unlike NAFTA--for which I voted, Mr.…”