Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as we all know, today we commemorate the solemn anniversary of the attacks on 9/11/2001.
If you ask anybody who is old enough to remember where they were that day, I bet they can tell you. It is one of those rare moments that defines an entire generation.
I have always said that it is etched in my memory like the only other event in my lifetime that might rise to that level of shock and horror, and that is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Eighteen years ago today, I was in Austin, talking on the phone to then-Governor Rick Perry. When I hung up the phone, my wife said, ``You need to see this,'' pointing to the TV set. That was just as the second plane hit the World Trade Center, and we all know what came after.
It was the same image that millions of Americans struggled to understand on that morning and still struggle to comprehend today--how someone could be so evil and so determined to take innocent lives.
September 11 serves as a dividing line in American history. For people like me, there is before and there is after, but for an entire generation of younger people, there is really only after. I believe this 18th anniversary carries special weight because those young people who have only lived in a post-9/11 world will now be able to vote in our elections, serve in our military, and help shape the future of our country.
It is a reminder of our commitment as a nation to carry out the promise we made in the wake of the attack to ``never forget''--never forget.
As Americans, we must remain vigilant, and we must remain with a strong sense of purpose and a strong moral clarity regarding confronting evil in all its forms. We vow to carry the memory of the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day in our hearts, the sense of patriotism that welled up inside of each of us, and the determination never to be intimidated, and never to back down.
Today, we remember the families who lost loved ones that day, the first responders who ran not away from but toward the danger, and the commitment of our Armed Forces, who fight to eradicate terrorism around the globe each and every day. United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Mr. President, on another matter, for a quarter of a century, the North American Free Trade Agreement has guided our trade relationship with Mexico and Canada. When NAFTA was created, it sought to remove the barriers that impeded free and fair trade to provide benefits to all three countries. While this agreement has certainly had its share of critics and champions, I think there is no doubt--certainly, in my mind--that NAFTA has been a benefit to the United States.
Last year, U.S. goods and services trade with Mexico and Canada totaled nearly $1.4 trillion. Across every industry, from major companies to small businesses, an estimated 12 million American jobs rely on trade with our NAFTA partners--12 million.
The importance of maintaining strong trade ties is certainly understood in my home State of Texas, and that is in large part because--and this will not surprise you--last year, Texas exported nearly $110 billion in goods to Mexico, our next-door neighbor, 35 percent of our State's total exports.
We also imported more than $107 billion in goods from Mexico, including everything from motor vehicle parts to computer equipment, to tractors and avocados. It is not uncommon to see certain products, like automobile parts, crossing the border multiple times during the manufacturing process before eventually making their way to the customer.
NAFTA has fueled the economies of every State across the country, but a lot has changed since NAFTA was ratified in 1993. At that time, the internet was in its infancy, smartphones didn't exist, and shopping at brick-and-mortar stores was the norm. Countless economic advancements and our digitalized marketplace have fundamentally changed the global trade landscape. So it is clearly time to modernize NAFTA and bring it up to current needs.
I was glad when the heads of all three countries signed the U.S.- Mexico-Canada Agreement last November and took major steps just to get that far, but the new NAFTA--or, as we call it, the USMCA--takes into account businesses and practices that didn't even exist when NAFTA existed, things like 2-day shipping, online micro-retailers, and digital products like e-books and music.
The USMCA will require Mexico and Canada to raise their de minimis shipment value levels, which will allow certain classes of shipments to enter all three countries with expedited entry procedures. That is a big win for small and medium-sized businesses, which often lack the resources to pay customs duties and taxes.
Overall, the USMCA takes steps to advance the digital economy, which accounted for nearly 7 percent of our total economy in 2017.
A few months ago, the International Trade Commission publicly released its analysis of the economic impact of the USMCA, which shows some positive indicators. The ITC concluded that, within 6 years, the USMCA will raise real GDP in the United States by $68.2 billion and lead to the creation of 176,000 new jobs.
We can also expect a more than $33 billion increase in exports and more than $31 billion in imports. That is great news for North American workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses that will reap the benefits of this agreement.
When I was traveling around the State during August, one of the most frequent questions I encountered from my constituents was this: When is Congress going to pass the USMCA? I assured them that I am just as eager as they are to see Congress ratify this agreement, but we are still waiting on the House and the administration to iron out their differences.
I know that the U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Lighthizer, and Secretary Mnuchin are having constructive conversations with the Speaker of the House, and she has set up a process by which the House can provide its necessary input into the final product, but we are all waiting to see the Speaker turn on the green light to allow them to start the process--sooner, hopefully, rather than later. We know that, historically speaking, the closer we get to an election, the more challenging it is to get things passed, particularly in a divided Congress, like we have now. So I hope we can get this process moving soon.
Businesses, jobs, and communities in Texas rely on a strong trade relationship between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. While NAFTA has benefited all three countries, it is not able to propel our economies into the future. That is why the USMCA is so important.
The USMCA increases goods' market access. It supports small businesses. As I said, it supports digital trade, safeguards intellectual property, supports our agriculture sector, and keeps jobs right here at home.
Free and fair trade isn't just good news for our economy. It is good news for the people behind it. This is a trade agreement built for the 21st century, and it is time for Congress to pass the USMCA and provide greater stability and more opportunities for North American workers.
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