Political Quotes

“Madam President, I understand that several of our colleagues today have been on the Senate floor calling for an immediate vote on the President's new North American Free Trade Agreement. Setting aside the fact that there have not yet been the hearings or the markups necessary to allow that to happen, it would be a major mistake for the Trump administration to seek a vote on a trade deal until it is a good deal. While the new North American Free Trade Agreement includes some improvements to the existing agreement, there is still work to be done to get the best deal for American workers and consumers. Updating NAFTA, for example, means confronting the areas where older trade agreements continually have fallen short: fighting to protect labor rights in the interests of working families, preventing a race to the bottom when it comes to the environment, and making sure there are vigorous enforcements of our trade agreements so that other countries can't treat a trade deal as an empty document that gives them yet more time and more opportunities to rip off American jobs. I do have real concerns about the current trade enforcement because the new NAFTA carries over too much of the weak enforcement system of the old NAFTA. It is too easy on trade cheats, and it is not good enough for American workers, particularly on the issue of protecting our working families and labor rights.…”