United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the U.S.-Mexico- Canada trade agreement, the first trade agreement I have ever voted for in my more than 20 years in Congress.

I am proud to be on the working group that helped negotiate this agreement, and I thank the chairman of that group, Richie Neal.

It is far better than the original NAFTA, and it is far better than the deeply flawed trade agreement that President Trump handed to us.

For example, he tried to tuck into it a huge gift to Big Pharma that would have raised the cost of medicine throughout our hemisphere. But from day one, I insisted that that provision be removed. Today, it is gone.

Without the work of the working group, without the help of the Speaker of the House, without Rich Trumka, the president of the AFL- CIO, we would not be voting on this today.

Is it a perfect thing? No, it is not. For example, there is a big gift to Big Tech provided in this called section 230, which gives a liability shield for all the companies and the platforms, for all the content that they have on those platforms.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter to Ambassador Lighthizer. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC, August 6, 2019. Hon. Robert E. Lighthizer, U.S. Trade Representative, Washington, DC.

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer: We write to express our concern regarding the inclusion of Article 19.17 in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

In many respects, the language of Article 19.17 mirrors that of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 shields online platforms from some of the liability associated with third-party content posted on those platforms.

As you may know, the effects of Section 230 and the appropriate role of such a liability shield have become the subject of much debate in recent years. While we take no view on that debate in this letter, we find it inappropriate for the United States to export language mirroring Section 230 while such serious policy discussions are ongoing. For that reason, we do not believe any provision regarding intermediary liability protections of the type created by Article 19.17 are ripe for inclusion in any trade deal going forward. Given that our Committee closely oversees Section 230 and all portions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, we also hope in the future the Office of the United States Trade Representative will consult our committee in advance of negotiating on these issues.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, Frank Pallone,

Chairman. Greg Walden,

Ranking Member.

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I urge everyone to vote for the trade agreement.

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