Vicente Gonzalez: “Many of the shortcomings that both my dear friends from Ohio and California have pointed out are actually remedied by…”

“Many of the shortcomings that both my dear friends from Ohio and California have pointed out are actually remedied by this bill. The answer is before us. Is it a complete answer? We never have a complete answer in any one piece of legislation; but this is definitely a start, and it is a meaningful one. My colleague from California poses the question, Where is the input? The input is in H.R. 254 because we as Members of the House of Representatives will finally have a voice. It will not simply be Treasury in the executive branch determining the parameters and the programs and the activities of NADBank. We will finally have something to say about it, so that my colleague from Ohio and my colleague from California will have a voice. That is what this piece of legislation is all about. If someone sees this as an opportunity to relegislate NAFTA, I cannot do anything about that; but that is not what it does. It does not attempt to do that in any shape or form. But this is the answer that those that speak today in opposition are seeking. We all are in agreement. If this bill does not pass, it is only the House of Representatives that remains irrelevant to NAFTA and to the NADBank. That will be the end result. I ask again, please consider this piece of legislation carefully, understand its merits, and you will vote for it.”