Rob Portman: “I have come to the Senate floor several times over the past year to talk about the importance of passing the…”

“I have come to the Senate floor several times over the past year to talk about the importance of passing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. This is the successor agreement to the 25-year-old NAFTA accord. Yes, it has been a year; in fact, it has been over a year since that agreement was negotiated between Canada and Mexico, and then Congress was meant to take it up. It has been too long. However, I am happy to report today that now we are at the end of that long process. I am told that the legislation is actually going to be voted on in the House of Representatives probably next week and then here in the U.S. Senate right after the holidays. We will have a chance, finally, to pass this agreement that is so good for the farmers, for the workers, for the manufacturers, and for the small businesses that I represent. I am really pleased that the President of the United States and his chief trade negotiator, Bob Lighthizer, had the persistence to get this done. I am not sure I would have had the same patience. I also want to congratulate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for making the decision to move forward with it. This is one of these situations in which, under our law, the agreement has to be voted on first by the House. So the Speaker of the House had an unusual role here, where it couldn't go forward without her approval. Again, finally, we are there.…”