The 385-41 Bipartisan Vote Sends USMCA to Senate for Final Approval
President Trump won a significant victory in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The last vote of 2019 in the House was late Thursday afternoon, with the overwhelming approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), sometimes known as NAFTA 2.0, which succeeds the North American Free Trade Agreement passed by Congress in 1993.
The legislation was filed under H.R. 5430.
Among the 385 members voting in favor, the bipartisan support was nearly even, with 193 Democrats and 192 Republicans supporting USMCA.
Congressman Sean Casten, who voted in favor of USMCA issued a statement on Thursday concerning USMCA passage, including this excerpt:
“I am proud of the work we have done to push for a better trade deal that will benefit American workers, businesses, and farmers alike. This agreement protects American workers by creating truly enforceable labor standards.
“It ensures that America can act to lower its prescription drug prices by removing provisions in the original deal that gave lengthy monopoly periods for the most expensive drugs.
“It maintains American agriculture export markets and improves Canadian market access for U.S. dairy and wheat producers.
“And lastly, it strengthens our trade relationship with our closest trading allies and supports the 12 million American jobs and the 120,000 U.S. small and medium-size businesses that sell their goods and services to Canada and Mexico.”
Sean Casten, per press release 12/19/19
.
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood has not issue a statement yet, but did support USMCA passage.
Two Republican candidates in the 14th district commented in social media about USMCA passage:
Catalina Lauf:
“USMCA passed: a win for IL-14: our farmers, our manufacturing companies and our small businesses.
“About time!”
Catalina Lauf via Twitter 12/19/19
.
Jim Oberweis:
“USMCA should have been passed months ago – instead [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Congresswoman Lauren] Underwood decided to put partisan politics ahead [of] people’s needs.”
Jim Oberweis via Facebook 12/19/19
.
As of early Friday morning no other candidate had commented on passage.
USMCA approval moves to the Senate where passage is expected by early January.
External Link:
- Casten full press release: https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-statement-his-vote-approve-usmca-trade-agreement
MAGA !
MAGA !
MAGA !
Congratulations POTUS !
KAG #TRUMP2020 !
Nancy Pelosi told House Dems, “We ate his lunch!”
https://www.businessinsider.com/nancy-pelosi-bragged-to-democrats-that-we-ate-their-lunch-on-new-nafta-2019-12
Senate GOP not happy at all because Nancy ate his lunch.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/474355-senate-republicans-air-frustrations-to-trump-administration-over-trade-deal
Several Senate Republicans on Thursday vented their frustrations to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer over President Trump’s recently announced deal with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
GOP senators expressed irritation over not being looped into the final-stage negotiation, which resulted in the White House making major concessions and ultimately won the endorsement of the AFL-CIO, one of the nation’s leading labor unions.
“He was negotiating with Speaker Pelosi and not so much with us,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an influential member of the Finance panel, referring to Lighthizer.
“There are a lot of us that are not real pleased with some of the provisions in there,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who aired his concerns during the meeting. “Truthfully, why didn’t we move to ratify this when we had Speaker Ryan” in control of the House, he asked.
“I still just scratch my head at that, I don’t get it,” Johnson said.
MAGA cubed!
Pelosi stated this a big improvement over NAFTA.
There is little doubt that Hillary would left NAFTA in place.
Even the Dems know they’re useless.