United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Floor Speech
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Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Kansas for yielding.
I also rise today to speak urging consideration of USMCA.
Mr. Speaker, I have been an elected official for a while, and even when I first began this job in the 1990s, I would get complaints from people as to why we couldn't do something about NAFTA.
After four Presidents, we watched NAFTA be approved and watched jobs leave America. We finally have a President who is willing to do something about it. As mentioned before, this agreement is important for Wisconsin manufacturers and manufacturers all over the country. Wisconsin, of all of the States, has the second highest percent of our workforce involved in manufacturing, and that is why when I get home, I hear about the importance of this agreement so much.
But as important as it is to manufacturing, the major reason why I wish so much this would be brought to the floor is when I go back home, I hear so much from my agriculture sector. This is important for your corn farmer, but it is even more important for your dairy farmer. Dairy is in the worst position it has been, I think, since I was in law school in the 1980s, and I was a law clerk for someone who had a primarily dairy clientele. It was so tough watching what these guys and gals went through in dairy in the 1980s.
Now, due to low prices, we are back to where we again and again watch dairy farmers wondering whether they are going to be able to hang on for another week, another month without going under. And here we have this agreement, which has been sitting here waiting to be voted on, and we are not allowed to come in here and vote on it.
I beg people. I realize that there may be some things you don't like about President Trump, but he has negotiated a very important agreement here, a very important agreement for manufacturers, a very important agreement for the agriculture sector, especially dairy.
Please, do not let this agreement wait any more. Do not drive more people out of business just for partisan reasons. This is such a good agreement. It is so rare that we get a big improvement around here.
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