Political Quotes

“Considering the visit this week from His Excellency Kishida Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, I rise to thank both him and his country's commitment to our deepening alliance of liberty. I also rise to discuss where I believe there is room for improvement and greater parity in the trade relationship between our United States of America and Japan, our essential ally in the Pacific. Japan is a key ally to our Nation, but there have been concerning developments within our trade and economic relationship that deserve attention. In particular, the U.S. and Japan's lingering and huge trade deficit is of great importance, certainly in my manufacturing region of America, our steelworkers, autoworkers, and manufacturers across our region, and the entire industrial Midwest. Due to the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, passage over 40 years ago with additional export caps and a slew of other flawed trade policies, the industrial heartland of our country has been left behind again and again. As jobs were outsourced and markets were left closed, it was hard for us to get our exports into Japan. As we embark on this next phase of our relationship with Japan, of the utmost importance to our country and global security, I would urge President Biden, lawmakers, agencies, the military, and even Japan itself not to again leave behind the manufacturing heartland and the people of our country whom I am in this very room to represent.…”