The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Corker) and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain). The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 48, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 283 Ex.] YEAS--50 Alexander…

this week we are engaged in what is perhaps the most momentous subject that we haven't dealt with in recent times, and that is, after 30 years, updating and reforming our Nation's convoluted, complex, and self-destructive Tax Code. Those…

the Senator from New York is my friend, and we have worked together on a number of occasions, but I must disagree with a number of things he said today. First of all, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was a partisan creation by…

I know you have talked specifically about how it would affect your sector of the economy, but clearly, when you start talking about increasing costs to consumers, when you talk about jobs, when you talk about losing market access, those…

I think you said that Texas has an $11-billion trade surplus with Mexico?

I think you know, Congressmen Hurd and Cuellar and I sponsored a bill we call the Cross-Border Trade Enhancement Act.

I think that can be achieved when we recognize that the investor-state dispute settlement process is very important to preserve.

So, while some people might say that the benefits of NAFTA perhaps disproportionately benefit certain States and certain regions, I think that bears further examination.

I will tell you that trade has gotten a bad name in some quarters, and it has become politically controversial.

Any renegotiation of NAFTA should reflect that critical role that free trade will play in the economic future of Texas.

Really, Texas has benefitted from NAFTA, and I think some might argue that it is disproportionate.

Let me, again, thank the panel for participating in today's hearing to highlight the interest of the various stakeholders who will be so directly impacted by NAFTA modernization.