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Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, today voted to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement.

Beyer explained his support during the Ways and Means markup of the legislative text of the agreement (remarks as prepared):

BEYER: I would like to add my voice to those thanking the Chairman, the Speaker, Trade Subcommittee Chairman  Blumenauer, the members of the working group and their staffs as well staff of the committee, Katherine Tai and her team along with Katherine Mongé in the Speaker’s Office, for their tireless work through this summer and fall without which we would not be at this point.

Last winter we were presented with an agreement that had a number of positive elements, many drawn from TPP, but that was also fundamentally flawed. 

Today I am proud to support a USMCA that has been fixed by House Democrats. 

From the moment we got that first draft of an unworkable deal, our leadership, this committee, and our caucus faced an organized campaign of political pressure dedicated to the thoughtless passage of that agreement without fixing any of its deep flaws, which included a totally broken dispute settlement mechanism.

We were accused almost weekly of stalling or burying the agreement out of personal animus towards the President.

The December 10 agreement put the lie to that theory. House Democrats were ready to do the work as soon as the administration recognized that political pressure could not replace substantive reform.

I hope that passage of this agreement with a strong bipartisan vote will put an end to the cycle of threat and uncertainty that has governed our trading relationship with our closest neighbors. It’s critical that this agreement provides the promised economic certainty.

And I hope that if that proves not to be the case, if there is a return to tariffs or threats, we will see a similar bipartisan majority to restore the sanity and certainty promised by this agreement.

This revised agreement contains landmark reforms that set a new standard for labor enforcement, which my colleagues have discussed at length and of which I think we can duly be proud.

As we know from previous agreements, for these reforms to live up to their promise we need to continue to engage and support them. That’s why it is so important that this bill contains a robust funding title. 

I understand the concerns held by my friends in the environmental community about what is not present in this agreement, the fact of the matter is that our counterparty in this negotiation remains steadfastly opposed not just to climate action but even to climate acknowledgment. 

But what is there should not be overlooked. Here the funding title is again so important. I remember standing with my friend Earl Blumenauer at a wastewater treatment plant along the Tijuana River and watching, horrified, as untreated human waste poured into the sea, affecting communities on both sides of the border. This bill will clean that up.

It provides both the legal and personnel means for stepped up environmental enforcement and – and this cannot be overlooked- allows a future president who cares about the planet to enshrine our Paris commitments, and hopefully, a stronger future commitment to enforceable multilateral environmental agreements under USMCA.  

Like many others who have followed the politics and policy of trade closely, I can’t escape a bit of mirth when I look at the totality of what my colleagues on the other side and in the Senate will be gleefully voting for.

Part of that is about what is in the agreement, but also what is not there: the biologics provisions that industry demanded so vociferously, a stunning end to the debate that helped doom TPP.

This is one occasion where I’m glad that my Republican colleagues’ devotion to President Trump overshadows their stated economic principles. 

This has not been an easy process, or a perfect one. As the resolution we passed earlier today showed there remains much to do to secure and maximize the benefits of trade for the American people, but I look forward to casting yes votes today and on the floor.