United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the updated United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

In the years that followed NAFTA'S enactment in 1994, American jobs were outsourced to Mexico, and the wages and working conditions were not improved for Mexican workers. This agreement, while not perfect, is an important opportunity to fix the damage from NAFTA and to create a new baseline for future trade agreements.

The renegotiated USMCA strengthens labor rules so that it will be easier to prove violations. It includes robust monitoring systems and strong enforcement tools, including people on the ground in Mexico to monitor compliance.

Importantly, the updated USMCA no longer includes harmful provisions that would have locked in high drug prices and made it more difficult for patients to access affordable generic drugs.

This final agreement also makes important advancements to protect our environment. It improves environmental rules, puts them in the text of the agreement, provides a path to reducing hydrofluorocarbon emissions, protects against overfishing, makes it easier to prove environmental violations, and secures more than $600 million to implement the environmental provisions and address pollution and marine debris.

Throughout the negotiation process, I fought hard for the inclusion of strong climate provisions. I am disappointed that the Trump administration rejected our efforts. We did, however, include a clause that creates a path for adding additional environmental and conservation agreements in the future. I will continue to do all I can to pass and implement bold policies to combat climate change.

The USMCA is significantly better than the agreement that the Trump administration brought to us. It is a major improvement over the NAFTA rules that are currently in place. It will bring more certainty to workers, to Oregonians, and for the environment.

I thank Speaker Pelosi for appointing me to the working group and the hardworking staff that got us to today.

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