Protecting Property Rights Abroad

Floor Speech

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Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, U.S.-Mexico relations are at risk as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continues to take unprecedented and irresponsible steps to unlawfully seize American property. President AMLO is planning to take control of a quarry and port owned by Vulcan Materials Company on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.

Vulcan has been in litigation and arbitration with Mexico since 2018, under NAFTA and then the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement. Yet still, President AMLO has taken a vendetta against the company, continuously trying to expropriate the American company's property and operations and making claims of environmental damages.

My legislation, the Defending American Property Abroad Act, would protect U.S. companies in the Western Hemisphere experiencing similar attempts at expropriation so economic growth and national security may continue.

American companies operating abroad should not have to fear arbitrary government actions that undermine their property rights. This is a gross abuse by the Mexican Government and sets a dangerous precedent for other American companies operating in Mexico.

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