Joaquin Castro: “I should have mentioned, of course, that Congressman Sires is the ranking member on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee…”

“I should have mentioned, of course, that Congressman Sires is the ranking member on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs Committee. His experience in that region in particular is vast. I am glad that you mentioned that this is really part of a larger theme and a larger concern, because President Trump, in addition to proposing to cut a lot of funds for diplomacy and development around the world, has also shown a real hostility towards other nations, including some of our best allies and friends around the world, and that is of great concern. For example, this issue with Mexico which you brought up, forcing Mexico to pay for the wall and constructing this wall along the 2,000- mile border that we have between the United States and Mexico and cutting aid if necessary, which he has threatened to do if Mexico won't pay for it, I have said very clearly that that creates an opportunity for China to step in or the Chinese President Xi Jinping to go into Latin America, go into Mexico and offer to give Mexico whatever Donald Trump takes away. That would strengthen China's hand in yet another region of the world. Of course, China is a big economic competitor of the United States, and I relate to my Texas folks because Texas does an incredible amount of trade with Mexico, and we have been very fortunate over the years that Mexico buys a lot of our stuff. They buy a lot of our goods.…”