bozeman, montana. >> the hell's creek formation is where we go to find triceratops and, t-rex. we have that here in montana. >> an incredibly beloved author in montana, and ivan, i think, really gives voice to the working people of montana. >> watch the c-span city's tour on c-span2's booktv earn and sunday at 2 p.m. on american history tv on c-span3. working with our cable affiliates as we explore or the american story. >> in 1979, a small network with an unusual name rolled out a big idea, let viewers make up their own minds. c-span opened the doors to policy making for all to see, bringing you unfiltered content from congress and beyond. a lot has changed in 40 years, butted today that big idea is

more relevant than others. on television and online, c-span is your unfillerred view of -- unfiltered view of government so you can make up your own mind. brought to you as a public service by your cable or satellite provider. >> now, the senate finance committee examines the u.s.-mexico-canada trade agreement. former agriculture secretary tom vilsack, along with a panel of trade and industry representatives, testified on how the usmca could impact the average american as well as how it differs from the 1994 north american free trade agreement. >> meeting will come to order. we welcome our witnesses. we're here to have testimony from a range of industries to tell us about the importance of the united states-mexico-canada agreement, and we soon are referring that to always as

usmca. we look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the significance of the agreement to american businesses, both small and large, the workers, the farmers that we all represent. thank you for being here. mexico and canada are our country's most important trading partners. according to the international trade commission for the year 2017, more than one-third of america's merchandise exports went to mexico and canada. in that year mexico and canada imported more than half a trillion dollars of american goods plus more than $91 billion of american services. for iowa our six and six-tenths billion of exports to canada

supported 130,000 jobs. the foundation of our strong trading relationship with mexico and canada have been, thus far, nafta. the united states, mexico and canada negotiated that agreement between 1990 and '93. at the time, it was a new standard of trade agreements. it helped mexico reform into a market economy, it enabled american businesses, workers, farmerses and ranchers to sell our goods and services in mexico and canada without tariffs and without many non-tariff barriers that for decades had burdened our ability to compete in those two countries. of course, the u.s. economy and the global trade have changed dramatically since 1993 and 25 years of experience with nafta have provided valuable lessons. the time for modernizing nafta

has come, and that's what usmca is all about. it sets a new standard for our trade agreements. for example, once enacted, the agreement will make it -- will be the first u.s. free trade agreement with robust chapters dedicated to digital trade, anti-corruption, good regulatory practices and small and medium-sized enterprises. usmca will set a new benchmark in many other areas as well such as free transfer of data across borders, strong rules on state-owned enterprises, north american content requirements for preferential treatment, food safety and biotechnology standards, customs and trade facilitation, intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, labor and

environment. usmca labor chapter squarely addresses workers' rights in mexico, and it already has resulted in the overhaul of mexico's labor laws. the labor and environmental standards in the agreement are the most rigorous in any u.s. trade deal. and unlike with nafta, they're in the core of the agreement and are fully enforceable. usmca also squarely addresses longstanding u.s. concerns in the canadian market such as canadian policies on wheat grading, retail sale of wine, dairy supply management and the distribution of u.s. television programming. these are stamm improvements -- substantial improvements from nafta. they represent benefits and new opportunities for iowans and were americans across the board.

according to the international trade commission, the agreement will increase real gdp by $68 billion and 176,000 new american jobs. now, that's not to say that every usmca provision is perfect. trade agreements always need to balance the preferences of different industries, region, elected leaders and stakeholders. some of my democratic colleagues in the house of representatives have centered their attention on usmca outcomes that they view imperfect. surely nobody could consider nafta to be better than usmca, and nobody -- let me emphasize "nobody" -- should dismiss the importance of a half trillion dollar market for u.s. agriculture products. i came away from a meeting that i had with speaker pelosi that

was very positive as i heard her words and express her attitude the towards usmca. people want to push and push, but i think we must be patient as she works through this, and i have confidence she wants to get to yes. i have supported -- besides, i have also supported the onto going work of the speaker's members with ambassador lighthizer to clarify outstanding concerns and identify bipartisan solutions. i have an open mind to workable ideas and stand ready to consider possible improvements in the agreement. for example, i support strong enforcement of all of the chapters through a system that works reliably and has credibility with our trading partners. i'm also pleased that important usmca provisions on prescription

drugs will not require any changes to u.s. law. and i would be open to proposals that would confirm that point. at the same time, every day that passes is another day that benefits usmca go unrealized. trying to reopen the whole agreement could risk unraveling the deal altogether, which would benefit nobody. i, therefore, urge the house of representatives and ambassador lighthizer to focus on their specific concerns and to propose solutions in short order so that we can pass usmca. doing so will provide much-needed certainty to american workers, businesses, farmers, ranchers' families and will enhance the credibility of our ambitious global training. senator wydenen. >> thank you. very much, mr. chairman, and i want to make clear at the outset that i look forward very much to

working closely we you on all of these issues. colleagues, the finance committee meets this morning to discuss what needs to happen for nafta 2.0 to deliver better results for american workers, our farmers, our ranchers and particularly american families from sea to shining sea. i do want to begin my remarks by giving a big oregon shout-out to one of our witnesses, ms. paula barnett, not only because she is an oregonian, but as a entrepreneur, ms. barnett is a perfect example of why the original nafta needs a bold upgrade. ms. barnett is an artisan from brownsville, oregon. i've been in that area often for town halling meetings, and

leadership county's population is about 1800 people. brownsville. she founded a jewelry business that produces in oregon and sells online, primarily on etsy, to customers in the united states and around the world. she also sources some of what dose into her jewelry from -- goes into her jewelry from abroad. getting that kind of business off the ground would have been a lot harder just a few short decades ago when nafta was created. according to etsy, the total economic output of its sellers based in oregon is more than $125 million, and that is just one of the many online platforms that businesses use to grow. oregon's many success stories also include rough ware based in bend, a producer of gear for very good dogs all over the united states and in other countries. updating nafta means addressing

the challenges facing these businesses that operate online. it also means confronting the other areas where older trade agreements continue to this day to fall short. fighting to protect labor rights and the interests of working families, preventing a race to the bottom when it comes to the environment, making sure there is vigorous enforcement of our trade agreements so that other countries can cannot treat those deals as empty documents that give them time and opportunity to rip off american jobs. and i want to particularly emphasize this trade enforcement issue. my colleague, senator cantwell and i, come from the pacific northwest. one out of five jobs in the state of oregon revolves around international trade. the trade jobs pay better than the nontrade jobs in many cases

because there is a value-added component. and in my home state, one of the first things anybody asks about when the trade topic is brought up is, hey, ron, what are you guys in washington, d.c. doing to better enforce the trade laws that are on the books? they understand you need to upgrade these policies, but they want to make clear that the new day has to involve tough, enforceable trade laws that have real teeth in them. ..

of the old nafta. it's too easy on trade sheets. it's not good enough for american workers, particularly on labor rights senator brown and i have proposed some additional tools to address specific challenges in mexico, and i hope there will be progress on that front. additionally, one of the bigger challenges we confront is identified the hundreds of thousands of sham labor contracts in mexico that that s exploited workers and harmed workers here. mexico must remain on track to get those contracts renegotiated on behalf of of the workers interest. during the overall the original nafta remains in place. workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses should not have to fear that economic uncertainty will cost them their livelihoods. it's a problem with the president acts out and makes impulsive threats regarding our trade relationships. american farmers, american workers have been hurt by some of these presidential impulses, and more will get hurt if the

president continues to offer threats and chaos, and possibly this ends up causing the congress to accept a bad deal on nafta. passing a trade deal that would allow this president to unilaterally change rules and in effect jerk around the entire industries would be a dangerous mistake that promotes uncertainty. when i talked to businesses, more than anything, they constantly, back to certainty and predictability. and you don't get trade done right with all of this uncertainty, and based on that ice concerns about of the administration wants nafta to point out to be intimate. that's what we'll be talking about today i know my colleagues to deepen both sides of the aisle about trade and i'd like to close this comment will begin come ms. barnett we're so glad you're here. i think you are the face of much of what the trade challenges all about. we welcome you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you.

ms. barnett, how can i do better than he did in introducing you? i guess silly thing i would add from my notes is that you single-handedly run your business selling jewelry to buyers all across the world so you're definitely concerned about trade agreements and trade generally. so thank you for being here. next i would like to welcome matt blunt, president of the american automotive policy council. governor blunt was a 50 for the governor of missouri, serving history as chief executive 2005-2009. he's been president of the american automotive policy council since 2011. inability represents the common policy interests of america's largest automotive manufacturers, ford, general motors, fiat, chrysler. so we welcome you, governor blunt. then we had mr. james collins,

chief executive, he leads the only major side dedicate agriculture just work began 35 years ago when he joined dupont 1984. he worked his way up the ladder. mr. collins became chief operating officer for the agriculture division of dow dupont before becoming ceo over recently standalone company, corteva agriscience. congratulations on your new position. then we welcome derek leathers, president and ceo warner enterprises, found in 1956. warner moved his headquarters from council bluffs iowa to omaha which is still close across the river. now you're still about i win i hope. i don't agree with the move, but -- person making that mistake. warner is now one of america's

largest transportation and logistics companies with a network of over 7800 trucks, an extensive expense in shipping and distributing goods to canada and mexico. prior to joining warner enterprises, mr. leathers is one of the first foreign members of mexico's trucking association, and was based out of mexico city for several years. thank you. now i have the pleasure of introducing i iowa's former governor and former secretary of agriculture for u.s. department of agriculture, tom vilsack is now president and chief executive officer of the u.s. dairy export council. he was elected i was 40th governor in 98, served eight years there and eight years as secretary of agriculture. now is is the leader of u.s. dy export council. he represents trade interest of more than 100 dairy industry,

their exporters and affiliated entity members, so thank you for coming, mr. secretary. finally, welcome michael wessel, president of the wessel group and staff chair of, to the labor advisory council for trade negotiations and trade policy. as the staff chair mr. wessel helps direct committee responsibility for advising and consulting secretary of labor and the u.s. trade representative regarding policies on labor and trade negotiations. he worked as a congressional aide for over 20 years and also a commissioner on the u.s.-china economic and security review commission. so thank you, mr. wessel. now we will start with ms. barnett and we will go that same way across the table as i introduced you. >> good morning. my name is paula barnett and i'm

a jeweler living in brownsville oregon with my nine-year-old daughter carla. thank you, chairman grassley, ranking member wyden, and members of the committee for inviting me to speak to you today about my creative business. i am a self taught fine shooter i spent six you're studying art and architecture history. while i loved dearly the career options were extremely limited. after failing to find a job in my field i conducted market research and decide to become a jeweler. i've always been a maker and once i decided on this path i dove headfirst into teaching myself how to make jewelry with simple tools and equipment. i launched my business in 2013 on an online market place for handmade goods and craft supplies. within a couple of months i'd already earned enough to cover my initial investment in tools and supplies, a rare feat for a new entrepreneur.

today i'm a full-time goldsmith. i make custom engagement and wedding bands using recycled fine metals and ethically sourced stills. i've come a long way from making brass rings shaped like mountains to setting diamonds in solid gold. my work is 100% made by me, with my own hands in my home studio and oregon. i'm also a single mother and my business allows me to be there for my daughter. i am home when she gets off the school bus, sick days are a nonissue and my flexible schedule allows me to raise my child as i see fit. i am very blessed in this regard. carla also benefits from watching me exert myself creatively and succeed in business. excuse me. i'm proud of my success but my story is not unique. globally, etsy host over 2.2 million traded entrepreneurs like me, and fully 87% 87% of those sellers are women. nearly all of them are businesses of one working out of their homes.

we are micro-businesses, yet we we have significant impact on our communities and the broader economy. in 2018 of the u.s. etsy sums contributed 5.30 7 billion to use, and created over 1.52 million jobs. our impact is especially big in rural communities like mine. for example, 27% of% of etsy sellers live in rural communities, compared to just 17% of business owners nationwide. individually, we may be small but together we are supporting our families and revitalizing communities across the nation. perhaps at the present find it this is a small us by testifying before congress about a multilateral trade agreement, but but i am exported in my own right. about 20% of my sales are international. like many etsy sellers i i mady goods available to international buyers on the moment i opened my online shop.

today, 52% of all etsy sellers export the goods. unfortunately, the u.s. is the only one of etsy core market with majority of etsy sellers do not ship the goods to other countries. for example, 90% of canadian etsy sellers ship internationally. trade agreements like the usmca has huge potential to the u.s. micro-exporters like me grow our international businesses. in particular, de minimis customs thresholds, digital trade provisions and educational resources targeted to small businesses could all help increase in exports. >> you're doing great, ms. barnett. >> thank you. first, my business depends on my package is being delivered quickly and with minimal hassle to buy overseas customers. unfortunately, many of my customers must pay extra taxes and fees on the pieces i export, often unexpectedly get i've had many packages get stuck in customs, and to the dismay of my

customers they must travel in person to pay the required fees before collecting the item. in some cases the cost can nearly the double the price of the item. this is a hindrance to sharing my work with the world. a few customers have even refused packages due to extra taxes and duties. in those cases i find myself having to refund the item including the shipping cost or risk entering a a negative revw which can make or break a business like mine. de minimis customs exemptions are the single greatest tool policymakers can use to help small and micro businesses export their goods. they enable my packages to move quickly across the border, which is especially important as customers expect faster shipping times. with plenty of customers in canada and mexico i encourage to see the usmca would increase them in his thresholds for both of these trading partners. the u.s. de minimis threshold is also important to my business. in addition to explain my goods also import many of my supplies. i import my opals from a

supplier in mexico. some of these stones are of a high value do not reach the $800 u.s. minutes threshold that congress established in 2015. i occasionally process returns and am relieved i do not need to pay additional fees on these shipments. given the importance of de minimis customs thresholds to my business i'm hopeful congress will ensure the final agreement establishes certainty, not uncertainty, around this important issue. second, digital trade provisions let me to use the internet and on line platforms like etsy to reach buyers around the world. thank you, senator wyden for your early and ongoing leadership in this area. i can't overemphasize how important the internet is to my business and my family. my entire business is online. without the internet i and countless others like me would be without work. a job is one thing but doing something you're passionate about is something else entirely. and that is what my jewelry business is to me.

i am thankful i can focus on growing my creative business and don't need to think about the digital infrastructure that underpins the global e-commerce, whether it be data processing and transfer, electronic payments across multiple currencies, or the intermediary liability protections that enable etsy to operate in open, and curated marketplace. i am honored to share my story with all of you today. my plans for the future include growing my wholesale account, expanding the complexity and craftsmanship of my work,, opening a retail studio space where i i can meet with clients and continue to make jewelry alongside my daughter, who is my biggest fan. as an internet based on when i'm hopeful to use can set the standard for sensible e-commerce policy through agreements like the usmca, and that these provisions can ultimately will be enforced to ensure the internet continues to act as a launching pad for millions of micro-business exporters like me. thank you so much for your time and the opportunity to speak before you today.

>> to recognize speedy of the very brief, mr. chairman, and, of course, we so appreciate the input from ms. barnett. i also want to note, i think colleagues note send it assume who is not here right now has also been a leader in this bipartisan effort to promote additional opportunities for digital trade -- senator sinema -- wonder think ms. barnett and note there is been bipartisan support across the aisle on that. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, ms. barnett. now governor blunt. >> thank you, chairman grassley and ranking member wyden, members of the committee. i thank you for this opportunity to testify today on usmca. truly 21st century trade agreement with our canadian and mexican trading partners. my name is matt blunt and i'm the president of aapc, the american automotive policy council which represents a common public policy interest of our u.s. automakers, fca u.s., ford motor company and general motors. our emphasis is on international trade and economic policy interest of our member

companies. american automakers are competent once approved by congress usmca will not only help bring much-needed predictability and help maintain the competitiveness of u.s. auto industry, it will also serve as a blueprint for future u.s. trade agreements, allowing our automakers to thrive in an increasingly competitive global auto market. when negotiations with canada and mexico began, aapc and its member companies have four priorities. first, maintain duty-free access to the canadian and mexican auto markets. two of the largest vehicle markets in the world. second, include provisions to address currency manipulation by our trading partners. third, ensure the continued acceptance of u.s. auto safety standards in the region, and finally include balanced and workable rules of origin for vehicles and parts in north america. we firmly believe the negotiators achieve all of these priorities. first, usmca will preserve

critical duty-free access to two of the largest vehicle markets in the world, markets were a companies have been incredibly successful. in canada are brands now account for 40% of the 2 million vehicles sold and in mexico american nameplates have secured 27% of the 1.4 million vehicle market, and market that is expected to grow steadily in the future. we commend negotiators for creating stronger but workable rules of origin for vehicles and parts in the region. the new rules raise naff this current minimum contact levels which are always the highest of any trade agreement in the world from 62.5%, the 75%. the. the new rules will require automakers to make changes to their sourcing strategies but we believe these changes are feasible and will benefit the u.s. auto industry and the millions of jobs they directly and indirectly support to at home. in fact, our three member companies have already announced $6 $6 billion in the u.s. investment which were driven in part by the new usmca rule of

fortune requirements. we agree with the administration that these new rules of origin will strong incentivize more investment in the united states and more u.s. investment means more american jobs. ambassador lighthizer successfully crafted and negotiated two groundbreaking provisions that will lock in the acceptance of vehicles built the u.s. safety standards as well as provisions to prevent currency manipulation. these are the strongest such provisions ever included in the u.s. free trade agreement and like the administration would leave these provisions should be included in every future u.s. free trade agreement. in short, american automakers have given our full support to usmca because it will not only help the u.s. auto industry remain globally competitive, it brings certainty and stability which in turn will encourage automakers, foreign and domestic, to invest and expand here in the united states. the president's decision last month to lift the peter slen steel and aluminum for mexico and canada was a crucial development for our automakers

as well as many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. we also understand the conversation between ambassador lighthizer and members of the house working group on use in ca have been constructive. given this momentum we hope members of this committee joined our colleagues in the house and senate can work to help resolve any remaining issues so that congress can approve usmca and a peaceful potential for use automakers and our nations economy as a whole to be realized. again want to thank you for holding this important hearing for the applicants test and i look for to answer your questions. >> thank you, governor blunt. now one minute or for personal privilege senator from delaware. >> thanks so much mr. chairman. before jim collins speaks of what is it personally welcome, grew up in delaware wife lived in a place which is my favorite part of delaware, just across the line in pennsylvania. but jim is a terrific leader for dupont many years and agriculture business now heads

up corteva agriscience which grew out of the dupont dow merger now split into three countries one of which is corteva agriscience headquartered in wilmington at experiment station. we're delighted to see that happen and in addition to being one of the business we also great community leader and an eagle scout answers on a lot of boards and our state university, library at the university of delaware. he has been a scout leader for many years of his life. his wife and he has raised 12 children. it seems like 12 children. but all our kids, there now adults but children we would be proud of. welcome today and thanks for testify. thanks, mr. chairman. >> mr. collins, proceed. >> thank you. thank you, chairman grassley and ranking member wyden and senator carper. i appreciate that introduction, two proud boys. only two.

and thank you members of the finance committee for the opportunity to be here today to testify. as you for my name is jim collins and i'm the ceo of corteva agriscience as as disinterested this is a new ad copy that spun off from the tao dupont merger. it's a company with more than 300 years of combined agriculture crit and honored to share the views of our more than 20,000 united states employees with the over 400,000 u.s. customers, american farmers and ranchers. i'm here to address the critical need to pass the united states mexico can't agreement. usmca features elements critical to american agriculture, things like market access, protection of innovation and modernize regulatory mechanisms to ensure our future competitiveness. millions of american jobs depend on trade canada and mexico by far the largest export markets for the united states. international trade supports 39 million jobs across america

with 12 million from trade with mexico and canada. the u.s. international trade commission analysis indicates usmca would increase u.s. afghan food exports by to $2 billion. farmers have floors under the enhanced access to canada and mexican markets. nafta boosted u.s. ag exports to north america by over 350% over the life of that agreement. canada and mexico by nearly 45 yoga and dollars of act products annually from the united states, making them our first and second largest export markets. in all of her conversation with farmers they have stressed that trade is one of their key elements of success. let me tell you about two, first-generation minnesota farmers andrew and heidi polk. they saw an opportunity to begin farming with the demand that was

coming from exports to china. however, because of the recent trade challenged between the u.s. and china, these young farmers were forced to search for new markets. the north american market was crucial to them last year sold the entire crop to buyers in canada. passing the usmca will ensure that new farmers like them can continue to survive. let's turn to the accepted. as chairman grassley stated so well in the junior income adequate we need to secure strong agreement so that we can restore a level playing field, unquote. with a level playing field, corteva can help u.s. agriculture become even stronger. at 12% the the food and act industry is responsible for the largest segment of u.s. manufacturing jobs so it's clear when farmers win, our nation prospers and we all win. united states is a largest market for seed in the world and

it is also the largest seed exporter. icicle and canada, the dresses to largest largest seed export markets represent $600 million in annual seed exports. that's one-third of the total. seed varieties can cross as many as six international borders before that bag of seed becomes commercialized and sold to a farmer. usmca offers the world-class regulatory disciplines that prevent rejected or delayed seed shipments that can cause market disruptions and dissatisfied customers. we can count that in the millions of dollars. our seat and crop protection product, the lecture property rights protection is also crucial. we are particularly excited about the biotech protections also afforded us under usmca. now lastly, agriculture is

future is dependent upon passage of usmca. corteva as the only u.s.-based seed crop protection and digital ag company has a substantial presence in iowa, indiana and in delaware, with offices come site and employees all across the country. but we are a global company as well and about half of our sales are outside of the united states. so we need trade agreements to solve problems before they become disputes. through nafta, north america became a more economically integrated, and our governments to establish broad deep among our officials and these frank discussion between officials were worth their weight in gold, and the usmca will build upon that foundation. so we must not only passed usmca to protect the north american market, but we need to replicate this exercise going forward in our other pending global trade

negotiations. the studies are clear. the international trade commission ustr and private industry have found that usmca creates jobs, expands markets for family farmers like the pokes and agribusiness companies like corteva. thank you again chairman for the opportunity to address the committee, discussed the importance of swiftly passing usmca and i would be pleased to answer any of your questions later. >> thank you, mr. collins. now mr. leathers. >> chairman grassley, ranking member wyden and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the american trucking associations and discussed imports of usmca at my name is derek leathers and i'm the president and ceo of warner enterprises. warner has grown from a one truck operation in 1956 to the global logistics company employing 13,000 associates and professional drivers worldwide. in the united states weren't has

8000 trucks operated by professional driver safety moving america forward every day. warner tended to grow our business at home and internationally. our significant growth in mexico is due to the initial success of north american trade. werner is one of the top five u.s. truck load carriers operating in canada with 8600 cross-border movements in 2018. as we celebrate at werner our 20th anniversary in mexico, we are the largest u.s. truckload carrier providing ground transportation service to and from mexico. last year we cross 154,000 shipments. mr. chairman, you would be interested to know that were under hall's protein, beef, pork and poultry from several locations across iowa to mexico on a daily basis. and ranking member wyden are largest cross-border customer in terms of volume and revenue is based in oregon. i spent over 25 years years in

trucking which included starting the mexico business while living in mexico city. i saw firsthand how nafta has transfer north american to the most competitive trading tradin the world. nearly 76% of all cross-border trade tonnage is transported by truck. when trucks are not the primary mode of transportation the other modes still depend on trucks for final delivery. every day there are 33,000 truck entries across our northern -- northern and southern border. to put this in perspective, 12.2 million truck crossings moved approximately $772 billion of goods across our meeting and mexican borders last year alone. beyond the numbers, the best way to truly grasp the scope across border trucking since it first and at her ports of entry. i invite you to visit our terminal in laredo, texas, where you'd see the next volume of trucks transported freight constantly moving across the u.s.-mexico border and why we've

expanded that location twice in the last three years we are so inclined, visit us on the interior at any one of our offices and we would be happy to host you. technological advances have redefined the trade if in frono such a degree nafta is outdated. the usmca is timely and necessary update. 25 you to go trade did not need to accommodate same-day shipping or two day delivery that is now expected by consumers. cross-border trade by truck has increased 191%. the north american supply chains have grown increasingly interconnected. so much so there are countless examples of products being transported around north america crossing our northern and southern border multiple times prior to reaching the consumer. congress must elevate our north american trade policies into the 21st century. the usmca represents more than a trade agreement. the flow of commerce between our

nations has become a major cornerstone of our economy. supporting the livelihood of roughly 90,000 people employed in his just trucking industry including nearly 60,000 euros truck drivers to move freight to and from our borders. u.s. truck income is paid u.s.-based drivers more than $3.25 billion in wages plus health insurance and retirement plans in 2018. simply put, trade is crucial for the blue-collar workers and the trucking industry. failing to pass usmca would have negative impact on truck drivers along with the customers we serve across north america. manufacturers can farmers, retailers and consumers. the american trucking associations were under the board alliance and trucking industry urges congress to ask with and support ratification of usmca. we stand ready to help drive

this agreement across the finish line. thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and i'm happy to answer your questions. >> secretary vilsack, thank you for coming. >> thank you, mr. chairman. senator wyden and members of the committee i want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to appear today. this is a meeting and hearing that is important to 110 members of the u.s. dairy export council as was the 39,000 family farm operations that provide safe and nutritious and sustain produced dairy products for us in the u.s. and around the world. i have a simple message for the committee. exports matter to american food and agriculture industry. 30% of production and 20% of all agricultural income is directly related to exports. help support $141 of activity, nearly 1 million paying jobs. exports to mexico and canada matter to the dairy industry and the farms across the united

states. 28% of all food and agriculture exports go to mexico and canada. between 40-$45 billion, five times what it was when nafta was first enacted. for many commodities canada and mexico represent their top markets ratification to the usmca matters to dairy farmers as well as to egg producers, poultry producers, wheat produces and those involved with providing alcoholic beverages as well as other commodities. as indicated the idc projected over $2 billion of additional income for american agriculture in the food industry which will help support thousands of jobs. for dairy there are multiple benefits from not the least of which is an increase of agriculture exports to canada and mexico amounting to over $300 million annually. it preserves or duty-free access to our number one market mexico. it increases market access to our canadian market that even

limit for far too long by increasing our trade quotas in cheese, giving milk powder, butter and other dairy products. it removes and reforms he trade distorting canadian pricing policies, repealing class vi and seven patent dollars and opposing more trade friendly discipline on the canadian supply management system. it establishes strong sanitary provisions that would protect food safety, helping to avoid unscientific barriers to exports. it improves the safeguards regarding u.s. companies right to use common food names, helping to avoid further abuse of geographical indications that will cost and could cost the u.s. dairy industry billions of dollars of lost revenue. the ratification of the usmca matters to all of the food and agriculture industry at it will build momentum for progress hopefully another trade

discussions, especially in japan and possibly china. ratification of the usmca impacts food and agriculture industry and really matters to the entire country. why do i say that? according to done and associates the u.s. food and agriculture industry represents directly or indirectly 43 million employed americans. which is 20% of our entire employment workforce. it impacts directly 20% of american economy. whatever helps food and agriculture industry helps the country. try to appreciate the opportunity. today and i look for to responding to questions and assisting this committee in its important work, work that is vital to the future of american agriculture and food industry as well as to the country. >> i know from following publications you are going doing this for quite a few months and we thank you for your leadership in that area. mr. wessel. >> mr. chairman,, ranking member

wyden, members of the committee it's an honor to appear before you today. my name is michael wessel and i'm here on behalf of organized labor as the stature of the labor advisory committee for trade negotiations and trade policy. organized labor wants nafta fixed we have worked in a constructive good-faith effort to find solutions, not just lodge complaints. we remain optimistic about the ability to resolve the issues, but we will not hesitate to impose an agreement that fails to improve nafta and the current trade template meaningful and effective ways by adopting the many recommendations we have made. much work remains. the current usmca is not good enough. the negative impact of the 16 nafta cannot be overstated. it has had an impact on production, employment and wages to come in the u.s. manufacturing, public and service sector workers have all been hurt.

steelworkers in indiana have seen their jobs go to mexico. bakery workers in philadelphia and chicago saw their jobs shipped to mexico where workers are not paid as little as 97 cents an hour. autoworkers in ohio are seeing their jobs relocated to mexico. aerospace workers throughout the country have seen tens of thousands of jobs moved to mexico, like workers at utc. that's just the tip of the iceberg. it's time to reverse that trend. our engagement and are continued engagement results not only from the depths of our concerns but is also a tribute to ambassador lighthizer and his team. let me make a number of quick points but it don't want to minimize the importance of issues i do not raise. we are not moving the goalposts but we will not accept charges that, if we didn't raise an issue at every conversation, the

issue must not be of concern. there's a long list. first is a critical need for improvement to the enforcement provisions which are essentially absent from the current agreement. panel blocking would disable the ability to resolve critical issues and must be fixed. in addition we support approaches such as the brown widen framework as a necessary provision in the agreement. but enforcement is only as good as the standards and laws that are subject to enforcement. we have repeatedly made suggestions for improving the labor standards including commented in the labor chapter. much work remains. while the labor and next provided a new framework for mexico, the interpretation of some of the language is still in question and we've not seen a mexico will implement and monitor its new laws and provide funding. specific text adversely limits certain critical rights and must be fixed.

mexico's labor reforms are being challenged including by the important employer friendly federation. there were more than 100 appeals against mexico's labor reform. there is no infrastructure to support on the grant activities to allow workers to achieve their internationally recognized workers' rights. there needs to be accelerated and frontloaded implementation rather than waiting for the for your clock to toll. and we need to ensure that the process here for bringing complaints is in dramatically improved. we need to address the access to medicines issued for virtually every labor contract in the u.s. deals with healthcare costs as a core issue with cost increases fueled by huge prescription drug price increases. workers to protect the family self are having to forgo wage increases. and fueling drug price increases in mexico and canada via usmca provisions is not only unjust,

it will have a direct impact on our ability to sell products there. rules of origins need to be strengthened and clarified, the loophole that allows foreign steel and aluminum to be counted as domestic originating materials must be closed. organized labor is committed to working to improve upon existing agreement. labor leaders have publicly supported the negotiations and as a relates to the labor text, indicated it improves upon the existing framework. must be strengthened and coupled with successful and timely implement in monitoring and enforcement provisions. but even if we achieve our goals we will not oversell the final product to our members. they have lived with the devastating impact of existing trade policies. they are rightly skeptical and their leaders will not mislead them. we need meaningful and effective changes based on the

recommendations we have made, and that will meaningfully address the outsourcing that continues across industries. we have waited for the flaws in nafta to be addressed and the substance of those changes, and out experience will drive our decision, not partisan politics. we look forward to working with the committee and congress in the coming days. thank you. >> thank you, mr. wessel. now will have a five-minute round of questioning. i will start with mr. collins. this agreement for the first time dealt specifically biotechnology to support americans innovations in agriculture and continued cooperation with canada and mexico. it improves transparency in functioning of approval process for biotech crops and provides for cooperative, cooperation and information exchange on agricultural biotechnology trade matters including gene editing.

so as coo of a major agora science company completely dedicated to agriculture, how will these biotechnology provisions of the agreement benefit your ability to innovate and bring benefits to our farmers and consumers? >> thank you, chairman for the question. you are exactly right. usmca creates a process for u.s.-mexico and canadian regulators to more aptly share information back and forth across themselves, and to better collaborate on the regulation of biotech crops, including the new breeding techniques that you mentioned. this process has the potential to alleviate trade barriers that can sometimes result from different processes and different procedures that evolved in different countries, including the time frames that are associated with the approval of biotech products.

so a more coordinated regulatory framework by which we can approach these markets in lockstep as opposed to sequentially has really helped. it's a benefit for the u.s. company innovation we drive in the u.s. but also for all farmers in north america. and we think these provisions will provide an important precedent for future trade discussions with other partners as well. >> secretary vilsack, the new agreement will expand market access for u.s. dairy products in canada and eliminate that countries unfair milk pricing program that has allowed their dairy products to undercut american competitors in canada and third world, third country markets. additionally, mexico agreed to restrict market access for u.s. cheeses labeled with certain common names. how will american dairy farmers

benefit, , take advantage of the new market access as a result of usmca? and i guess i'm also interested in whether or not it will expand market share to canada. >> mr. chairman, in 2017 america suffered a loss of seven dairy farms a day. times were tough out in rural america. this agreement would provide an opportunity for dairy farms to stay in business. why? because it would expand access to canadian market that for far too long has been close. it will increase our market share opportunities. this gives us an opportunity of a powder market, global powder market that abides appropriate pricing. the canadian pricing system basically undercut the world price which created havoc in the powder market globally,

impacting negatively our producers as well as those around the world. the implementation will be important. we've had to keep an eye making sure this is not a replacement has the same effect as class vi and class vii but we are hopeful. there are export potential penalties that canadian exporters want to pay if the export more than the limits set forth in the agreement. this is an increase in market share, and increased opportunity for the u.s. dairy to do business in canada and also as i said preserves our number one market which is mexico. >> mr. leathers will be my last question. you referenced in a bloomberg piece in your testimony about how a single capacitor crossed the border numerous times before it was finally in the final product. it paints a clear picture that in 25 years since nafta was

enacted, technological advances have redefined the trade environment. could you share more light on how technology has revolutionized our trade practices last 25 years and why it is imperative we modernize our north american trade agreement? >> thank you for the question. i was on the grant in mexico city before nafta was enacted the first time from living and working in running a mexican trucking company. over the 25 years when we think about usmca and i think about the opportunity in front of us, it contemplates and for the first time addresses issues that didn't exist back then. we didn't have ended to speak up and there was no e-commerce, no digitalization of our customs process. the average trucking cross-border time was 24 hours, if we were lucky. antedate we wake up in in the d 25 years later where we are doing advanced customs clearing, clearance of goods.

we're digitally interacting with our shippers and receivers. we are working with unified customs process with both mexican and u.s. officials at the border in a more seamless and efficient crossing process. having the usmca enacted and ratified to help address from our perspective the important of all of this digital information and the ability for these records and their security to be better recognize and have better treatment in the agreement is of critical importance. the future is only going to continue to go that direction and in our business is increasingly one that is moving more digitally by the day. >> senator wyden. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ms. barnett, i think your story is incredibly inspiring, how you as a single mom happen able to come up with this attractive, exciting new business where in effect you are able to look to

global markets as a result of digital innovation. i just have a quick question for you. u.s. de minimis rates are in american law because john thune, republican senator sitting over there, and i wrote it. and this committee is not going to go along with uncertainty in u.s. law and nafta why don't you tell us what the value of a across-the-board certainty would mean for you and your business? >> thanks, senator wyden, for that question. so i export my goods as well as import supplies, and i would not, i would like to not have to worry about my items crossing the border. i want my items to get to my

customers as fast as possible because you expect that. some of my items are lower priced and some of them are quite higher-priced, and i would, it would be valuable to me to have my customers not have to pay so much extra taxes. in terms of the u.s. de minimis, since i'd import import a lot of my stones, i would like to not have to worry about having to pay extra taxes because it does cut into my bottom line. since i make sole proprietor, every dollar counts. and certainty is important because i just, i just make jewelry. i don't want to have to worry about uncertain provisions and laws. >> good. and you should know that on this committee there is strong support for the kind of certainty you are talking about, and you have really made the

case very well. mr. wessel, , i want to turn to you on this whole question of the labor issue and enforcement, and a notch or anybody knows but you and i been talking about these issues for years and years and i so appreciate your good works. it seems to me the administration has made progress on improving the labor obligations in the new agreement, but that isn't worth much unless you have tough, real enforcement. senator brown and i have been working on a a new framework in this area so that would be sufficient resources, technical assistance to cooperate with mexico on their new labor law, and also to provide a backstop to protect american workers from being disadvantaged by unscrupulous factories in mexico. what would it mean, mr. wessel,

somebody studied this for years, what would it mean for u.s. workers if we were able to finally get full compliance by mexico of their labor obligations? >> it really is the single most critical issue in the question of the balance between our two countries, the outsourcing of jobs, , the relocation of a lotf our supply chains to mexico because of the artificially low wages in that country, primarily stimulated by low current labor standards and no enforcement. as you know that are roughly 700,000 protection contracts currently in place in mexico the vast majority of which workers have no idea whether they exist or what their terms are. so making sure that workers are paid a decent wage in return for their hard work, their creativity, the skills is the fundamental component of what we

are looking for long-term. without strong enforcement we are going to continue to have the same process and results we have today. >> let me follow that up, and in effect tried to take this enforceability issue be on what senator brown and i have been working away on for months now, and we've been working with the speaker and house members and the like. i gather yet some additional ideas enforcing trade law and particularly nafta 2.0. do you have some additional recommendations? >> i do. first, enforcement, often means there's been injury and someone has been hurt in the labor context. our goal is to have the infrastructure in place to make sure that workers know what their rights are, are able to freely associate and enjoy the rights that they have, that's a

fundamental component of what you and senator brown have talked about in terms of the infrastructure. clearly, we need to make sure the state to state dispute resolution is biting. we need to make sure at the front end of this process that we don't see what we saw in the columbia situation where we had an agreement that called for certain actions but those actions were not in fact, adopted prior to certification. so a better certification process and we sat in the past. we also need the infrastructure to provide greater access to the enforcement process. all of the labor rights cases have been brought by organized labor. it is a very difficult process to enter, and time-consuming we need to shorten that process. we need to make sure it is timely. >> i want to thank all of our witnesses. we look forward very much to read with all of you.

>> senator toomey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank eyewitnesses as well but trento want to focus on some of the concern i have about this agreement. i want to start by pointing out an important fact that we ought to keep in mind. if and when we get to a vote on usmca in the united states senate, the choice will we will be making is not between usmca and nothing. the choice we will be making his between usmca and the existing nafta agreement. i say that because the president clearly does not have the constitutional or legal authority to unilaterally withdraw from nafta. and when that is a place it is in place by statute or we should all be very clear about that. it's not going away. the president doesn't have the authority to do that. the question before us should be, is usmca a better agreement than nafta or is it not? most of the witnesses here today in their prepared testimony have

cited as one of the biggest benefits of usmca, a reduction in trade policy uncertainty. the blood said usmca will quote help bring much-needed predictability to the auto industry. mr. vilsack, you noted usmca will benefit the dairy industry in part by quote restoring certainty the u.s.-mexico trade relations the mr. collins correctly identified the positive effects of usmca bound by the international trade commission, quote, primarily from certainty created by usmca. because markets abort uncertainty. that's also a quarter the question is where does all the uncertainty come from? it doesn't come from nafta. nafta is a well-defined agreement we've had for a couple of decades, establishes zero tariffs on 100% of

non-agricultural goods, zero tariffs on 97.5% 97.5% of agril goods. there is no uncertainty intrinsic in nafta. the only uncertainty is whether people think we might be unilaterally withdrawing from it, and the president has no authority to do that. i think the question grafted ask ourselves about usmca is due the policy changes in usmca, do they promote growth relative to nafta? my colleagues sometimes point to a study from the itc that shows some very modest gains to economic growth from usmca. it does. but the itc found reducing quote policy uncertainty accounts for nearly all the gains of the agreement. and if you back out the little tiny boost to gdp of this reduced uncertainty, then the itc found that usmca would reduce real gdp by a very small

amount but it's not a game. it's about $23 billion over six years. and that's despite the fact that the itc analysis did not attempt to quantify, did not factor in at all two of the provisions of the usmca that are virtually guaranteed to increase uncertainty. and diminished investment and reduce trade and access a drag on growth. one is a 16 year automatic expiration date, the sunset provision. the itc explicitly chose not to try to quantify the effect of that, and the other is dramatic gutting of protections for american investors in mexico and canada. how could either of those things provide more certainty? they clearly don't. the sunset provision, this agreement goes the way in 16 years unless every one of the parties to the group x agrees to extend. we have no certainty that is going to happen. investors state dispute

settlement mechanism is a provision that in every single free trade group we have except for australia. it says mexican or canadian courts treat out our confession unfairly vacancy recourse. including monetary damages. folks, this happens and it happened in candid as well as in mexico. there's a case of canadian local government try to shut down a u.s. application to open up a salt mine by climbing the mind violated the quote core community values of the neighboring town. core community values was an invention that was meant to discriminate american investors. the american investor challenge that and one. that's what it is there for is to prevent discrimination against american investors, and it works. but now we're going to under usmca completely eliminate the investor state dispute settlement mechanism for candid and virtually eliminate it in mexico. there are some provisions in the usmca i think our constructive

modernization, the digital trade chapters good, enhanced i.t. protection is good policy, very modest reciprocal reductions in agriculture varies but it's worth noting these were all in tpp. these could of been achieved without this. mr. chairman, i see running out of time but i just want to say that if we adopt this agreement it will be the first time that i know in the history of the republic that we will agree to a new trade agreement that is designed to diminish trade. the combination of the uncertainty in these provisions and the onerous new costs imposed on mexican automakers is designed to reduce trade in autos and diminish total trade. i don't think that's what we ought to be doing here so i i would urge my colleagues to think hard before we endorse usmca. >> i'm glad you are so wrong. [laughing] >> mr. chairman, could he keep the sign up for one minute? can you put -- i so appreciate

many aspects of earmarks, , not all of them but i think the staff got it right with just that one little mathematical sign their of nafta is greater than usmca. and i think we have to remember, as secretary vilsack said, the great economic impact that nafta did have in some aspects of our economy. on the same in every aspect but certainly in the state of washington we import/export $2 billion worth of goods to mexico which accounts bobby 170,000 jobs in the state of washington and i agree with my colleague that when we talk about these things we should talk about expanding the economic opportunity. i agree, it's a modernization in some areas that were not previously included, but i want to also say i so support the chairman great activities in giving the administration to relent on 232 terrorist as

relates to mexico and canada. i have a feeling we wouldn't be having this hearing today if that first had not been accomplished. greatly appreciate that by the chimp adequately appreciate by the ranking member his focus with senator brown on these enforcement mechanisms. this is a critical aspect. i authored some capacity building as part of the customs bill to try to get ustr throughout the capacity to follow up on disputes and enforce trade agreements. i believe there's a big market outside the united states that we have to have the tools and the teams to make sure these agreements are lit up to. i wanted to ask you, mr. wessel, earlier this year mexico entered into new labor laws ensuring mexican workers the right to organize and bargain collectively. now they have to create independent labor courts and as you were mentioning, colombia ca

and the challenges that we faced in getting the right infrastructure there to make these decisions. so now they have to estimate these reforms. what do we need to do to build capacity in this area? and don't when you do put in place enforcement tools to build capacity to protect and enforce labor rights? .. consumers of our products. having labor rights in mexico will enhance opportunities for our exporters of all products. what you are talking about is a critical issue. thank you for your leadership on a trust fund. it helped to establish the funding mechanisms we need for

this. mexico has a number of things that they need to do on their own. in our opinion, it is is far too lengthy. it is far too certain. not only because of the constitutional challenges, more than 400 of them of them so far, but mexico has failed to define or appropriate the money. that will come later this year. the u.s. helping on capacity building. mexico is vital to help those workers that have not had writes or understood their rights for so long to have much to do with trade facility. able to go after the field and help support them and understand what their rights are. it means having capacity here to support unions that we need as well as to have access to the process to make sure injury is

occurred, but we can build the capacity to make sure it is a success. >> you said u.s. support to that similar to using the customs bill and using those dollars to hire more lawyers, we should also higher more capacity for implementing, helping to implement or oversee. >> trade conciliation, et cetera, there is a role for u.s. resources. we will not pay for mexico. that is a governmental duty for them. so much more infrastructure that can be put place in mexico. having the access and knowing how to interact with their pretrade reunions and government >> we definitely see an economy outside the united states.

the key is getting these issues right and making sure we can enforce our agreements. thank you for those ideas today. >> let me thank all of our witnesses for the contribution to this. clearly an important agreement for american manufacturers, producers and farmers. the united states, mexico and canada. we all understand the importance of maintaining the trade relations between the three countries. i want to underscore a couple of positive aspects. we worked very hard to make sure there is a principal objective of trade to include good governance. unfortunately, we are not part of that. what i want to just acknowledges

those provisions are carried over into the u.s. mca agreements. my vote will be standard for us on all trade agreements moving forward. i also want to speak to the eastern shore of maryland. i want to agree with the senator on the point that you raised in regards to small businesses. small business and entrepreneurship committee. the $800 limit is critically important for small businesses. i am deeply concerned that because of the way that this is structured, that number could be significantly reduced affecting small businesses because of the president demanding to negotiate the rule.

who gets hurt if he changes it to small businesses here in the united states. i don't know whether we will have a nine on trend an opportunity to negotiate that further. the weight is worded, i think, i think, is extremely damaging to small businesses here in this country. i want to concentrate on the dispute provisions and the fact that many of us think there is not effective enforcement on the u.s., mexico, canadian agreement we carry over the provisions which means it is difficult to see what is difficult before your timescale and labor. they don't follow it. a blunt instrument to enforce our trade rules.

canada mexico have the right way to challenge us. question. how do we within the context of the current agreement fix that? the house working group. finding a way that panel blocking. the provisions that senator brown and senator wyden have been talking about, but not only

is there the capacity within the structure, but there are relief measures that are available if in fact a site specific location there has been inadequate labor rights for the workers. we need to supplement with senator brown and wyden between the house and the administration at this point. >> i want to give you an opportunity to respond about the sunset provisions. i find it somewhat unsettling the way they have been drafted in this agreement. leading to as early as six years from now. does that raise concerns? >> senator, one of the advantages would e the opportunity to make sure that the candidates have in fact

followed through on eliminating class six and seven. less of a concern on the dairy side, the farm side. it gives us a chance to revisit. >> a chance to pull out of the agreement. >> a chance to make sure it is implemented in the way that it was intended. >> there was a replacement system for what we are currently using depending on how it is implemented. we are wary because of past agreements with canada. they've had a tendency to fight john their commitments. >> this administration does not seem to have a coherent policy when it comes to trade.

i would argue for decades our trade policy don't relationships promote american values. maintain national security interest. you focus on america's relationship that we could have developed a regional counterweight against china both on trade but national security. it appears to me that u.s. mca basically duplicates. to allies like canada and mexico

actually strengthening our relationship. when the president constantly goes about and threatens to shut down the border. what does that do in terms of uncertainty. going through this notion of approaching our two allies with mexico and canada. >> they are all being silent. the tariff supply under section

232 where mexico and canada where appropriate. the goal of enhancing aluminum and steel production in the u.s. to support national security was a goal. the fact that the tariffs were applied more against allies than they were against those that were cheating and breaking the rules to us was an inappropriate structure. from day one said they should not be applied to those two countries. challenging china and etc. there are a lot of questions about the execution underlying that. >> i could not agree with you more. the goal was right. the amount of damage we did to both canada and mexico, canada in particular, going against was totally inappropriate.

i want you to comment because i do want to come back in a moment >> i just commented on both. first on the issue of whether it rated adversarial relations or concerns with some of the rhetoric, i think we all could agree, and i'm not looking to be political with the statement, there may have been times where the way things were expressed could've been done differently and more delicately. in my experience, having lived and worked in 20% of my working life in mexico, 70% has been doing north american trade are working on north american trade activity with my customers. the elevation of the conversation, business-to-business, between companies, talking about the real issues and why they need to be addressed, has never been greater. an open transparent dialogue

about issues of concern to both parties. i think that there is a positive and there as well. as it relates to border and border shutdowns, it is a concern to me because it's a concern to my customer. i'm delivering their freight so they can make their products. i think one of the things they do is give the opportunity a fry opinion, certainty that we can live with. >> thank you. what happens when things like japan, u.s. come in and take advantage of that opportunity? >> senator, the challenge i think is it opened up an opportunity for some of our competitors to move into market opportunities that they did not have before. europe basically accelerated

their negotiations with all mexico and japan to enter into a free-trade agreement that put at risk, names, it negatively impacted our capacity to do trade in both of those countries. the removal began a process of restoring that market and mexico. we are keeping our fingers crossed that negotiations with japan will result in us getting back in that market fully and completely. >> on senator whitehouse. because we have three votes, this is how we are going to run this committee. when he comes back, i will go over and vote on the first one and second one and we will keep it going. senator whitehouse is next. >> thank you chairman. thank you to the panel for being here. i think rhode island was pretty

hurt by nafta. seeing some interesting views across party lines here. this is an area where geography and economy matter. i can remember going to manufacturing facilities and seeing holes in the floor and asking what they were. those were the places where the machinery had been unbolted so they could be shipped to central america. the same product for the same customer on the same machine could be made in a different country, thanks to to nafta. i don't see this as a very significant change. you can call it whatever you want. it looks a lot like nafta. if you focus on the environmental side which i tend to, this is really pretty bleak. in this day and age, it does not even mention climate change. knn

write an agreement in this environment and not address the environmental issues and not mention it. second, it singles out the industries to protect so that they remain able to go bully and intimidate small countries that may try to regulate their pollution which is, i think, think, really unnecessary and inappropriate. i take as a signal, the area of marine plastic debris. the area is the one environmental area in which the trump administration has tried to give itself some degree of environmental credibility. it has been very bipartisan.

after it is dumped into the oceans by other countries as a tremendous problem. without the and thousands of tons of garbage comes to us. on this issue, they are putting their best foot forward. this is how they will try to make up for the environmental disaster for what the trump administration is. once you look behind what is said, once you look behind what trade representative says, it ain't good. last year at the g7 meeting in canada, the u.s. refused to sign the oceans plastic charter. in march, u.s. interference produced nonbinding proposals and weak targets in the u.s. then rejected even the final watered-down declaration. in june the g20 failed to agree. reportedly due to u.s.

intransigence. most recently, epa administrator wheeler pushed to have countries exempt from new roles. agreed to what was already agreed to. dumping of plastic waste without consent. the headlines that i see on this. tighter rules on plastic waste trade. g 20 urges voluntary action with the united states blocking demand of global targets. one unexpected sticking point of the g7, why, the americans did not want to sign on the charter which contained targets. they hope the u.s. would take joint action. in the end, it did not. the communiqué released at the end of the summit, we the leaders of canada, france, germany, germany, italy, indoors the charter. guess who did not sign.

the u.s. nearly all countries agreed to extend. not the u.s. u.s. accused of blocking ambitious global action against plastic pollution. march 15. all of those stories since march. if this is the way that the trump administration enforces environmental concerns that it claims to support, then, look out for the other environmental enforcements. as somebody who has been critical of the obama administration for their incredibly weak enforcement of environmental and labor standards, i just see us going off a cliff. no prospect. our companies will lose business to polluters who dump plastic waste into the rivers and oceans and other countries although there's a lot of big talk from the oval office about how this is their big environmental issue, when the rubber hits the road, when the negotiators are working on these agreements,

it's always the trump administration that is the weak link and dragging back against process. i just find the whole thing pretty incredible at this point. thank you. >> thank you, senator hanson had i want to thank you in the ranking member for having this hearing. i'd also like to associate myself with the remarks about environmental enforcement and protections. secretary, i wanted to follow-up on senator grassley's questioning grassley's questioning to you. about the enforcement mechanisms in the u.s. mca. price and policy and exporters including new hampshire. you raise concerns that canada could potentially work around the elimination of effectively

re-creating unfair practices that are like the class seven price and everything. can you explain to the committee how that might happen in practice and how you think the u.s. mca elimination of this price could be effectively enforced. >> senator, thank you very much for the question. no question that they did in fact hurt your dairy producers as well as producers around the united states. six months after the ratification of these agreements by all three countries, canada has agreed to eliminate class six and seven replacing it with the pricing system that is tied to our class for. first and foremost, an opportunity to keep an eye on how that is implemented. it does contain restrictions or limits on how much can be exported in these areas. if those limits are exceeded. it gives us a tool that we did

not have relative to class vii. then there is the opportunity for periodic review and concerns that all countries can raise whether or not the agreement is in fact being implemented. >> 70% of the the power produced in this country is exported anything that affects the export of power is certainly a concern to us. we are hopeful that the elimination of classics and seven and the export limitations and penalties that provide a forceful mechanism for us to ensure that it is indeed a repealed class seven and not a replacement with something similar to it. >> thank you. canada supply management for dairy is not very supply management. we need to make sure they do not restrict its dairy market and some new way. i also wanted to touch on another aspect of the agreement when it comes to dairies.

as you know, under the u.s. mca, canada has agreed to increase the amount of dairy exports. you suggested that canada could still play games with these so-called quotas. you talked about that a little now. in past years, canada's tariff quotas have counted across border purchases like when canadians drive to new hampshire to purchase dairy products. can you elaborate on the games you believe canada could play with tariff rate quotas and again, how do you think we can effectively stop them? >> there is obviously a concern and how the canadians define certain products and how they define meeting the quote out. there was a quota for fluid milk and they contended that they were complying with the quota because people were crossing the border, purchasing and then coming back into canada. i think the concerns that that

practice has raised will ensure that we keep a wary eye on these quotas and making sure that they are in fact enforced. the good news is, the amount of the quotas, the increase is greater than what we would have received and we don't have to share that quota with other nations. clearly, again, the opportunity to review gives us a chance to raise issues sooner, rather than later. i think that it is an opportunity for us to make sure our canadian friends are following through. >> your testimony reminds me of the small business owners in my state who are also helping fuel our economic growth. both new hampshire and oregon, the backwards way fair decision has creative massive uncertainty for online entrepreneurs. with all of this uncertainty, i

believe that trade certainty for small online businesses is all the more important. that is why i am concerned about a footnote in the u.s. mca that allows the administration to lower our so-called threshold that allows small businesses to ship products terror free. you talked a little bit about this in response to ranking member widens questions. just so people can understand this a little better, can you tell the committee how thresholds help cut red tape for your businesses exports to canada and elsewhere? >> when i ship, say a $40 pair of earrings to canada, or mexico, usually mostly canada, not so much mexico, it will generally fly across the border in into the customer's hands.

if it's over a certain amount, i'm not sure, but, but around $40, the customer will have to run down to the customs office and pay a fine, or extra taxes and duties just to collect their items. sometimes it could be as much as they paid for the item. >> it is a major hassle for you and for them. it is an impediment for the business. i am over time. i will perhaps follow up with you in writing. i want people to understand how important it is for consistent, predictable border policies. i look forward to talking to you more about it. thank you. >> presiding chairman. i would recognize him next.

the committee in which i am chair. i am fond of calling him a long time friend. short for a movie star way back, with regards to gary cooper. i realize nobody knew what i was talking about. [laughter] of gary cooper or the movie. nevertheless, for the first time in this committee, you are up. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it is almost high noon and you are my chairman. i appreciate that. i had to look up gary cooper to see if i was flattered by that are not. i want to associate myself with the comments that were made earlier about the strong bipartisan support there is for maintaining the threshold which

i think is something he and i got signed into law. i think it is really important. i think we need to maintain those levels. it's important to our ability to trade effectively with other countries and make it easy for other businesses to compete. let me ask, this agreement, i think, is a most friendly the united states has ever considered. it is a big improvement. on the issues over which a number of my friends across the aisle have expressed concern. i would just like a yes or no answer. given the choice, what would would you choose? >> u.s. mca. >> great. thank you. >> u.s. mca is a significant improvement.

>> we would choose u.s. mca. >> u.s. mca. >> 2.2 billion reasons for saying u.s. mca. >> u.s. mca. >> let me just say, my own view is, this is something we can get done and get done quickly. look at the whole gamut from manufacturing to automotive and foreshore to agriculture which i care deeply about. the itc study said it would create 126,000 u.s. jobs in our economy and raise for workers. i think it's time to pass the agreement. realizing some of the economic and if it's. is there any reason why we would not act now. someone please explain what the cost of not acting would be. >> obviously, our opinion is we should act now.

the cost of not acting as the uncertainty we have talked about several times today. in corporate america, we go through processes to figure out and allocate capital expenditures. that number is at or around $300 million a year. not knowing with great certainty that the u.s. mca will be ratified makes it difficult to make decisions. we have invested heavily on the border. 100 acres. we would like to see that certainty. we believe that it is a huge step forward. the time to act is now. >> my view is we cannot afford the current situation. we cannot afford to see jobs like the bakery workers in chicago and philadelphia making orioles and those doubts have now gone to mexico where workers

are making $0.97 an hour. the last time the oreo package is not being sold any cheaper here in the u.s. u.s. mca with its variety of provisions, labor laws that will be effectively enforced implemented and enforced can help change that and we are working for that. >> i would just add, putting ourselves in the role of our customers here. i typically make decisions about what i plan 12 months ahead. they make their farm management plan. having that certainty of where that demand will come from, global market really helps in that decision-making. they are trying to make the best decisions they can for 2020. having certainty about what that market looks like in the future would be very beneficial. >> i could not agree more. farmers and ranchers are facing a ton of uncertainty. they are being unsure about what

the rules will look like in the future. that is very problematic. starting to change the trajectory and bend in the right direction. we don't need to wait on this anymore. we need to get it done. the folks in kansas, they desperately need this. i hope they get it done. i think my colleague from ohio for his courtesy and letting me go first. thank you. >> i'm happy to recognize. >> thank you all for being here today. i think this is a great hearing. >> excuse me. >> the reason, i'm going to make

it simple. it does modernize the agreement is 25 years old. things like the digital economy, we have to upgrade it. that is done. i think that will be very helpful. raising the threshold. not as much as i would like. the alternative is nafta. i think that is what we are stuck with. no way for the president to pull out of nafta at the end of the day. that is what most of the lawyers told me. turning to labor and the environment. we have these in modern agreements. we can talk about enforcement.

the choice is not about enforcement or not. it's about having the standard at all. the market access for farmers in ohio is very important to me. strongly in support of it. in terms of the labor standards, not only better and enforceable, but we have things in disagreement that we've never had. talking for years about some of these issues. ustr. it surprises me that they are not finally saying that they can accept victory. this is what they've been asking for. >> this is the itc study. >> enforceable labor standards.

are they and nafta. no. u.s. mca. yes. 70% made in mexico have to be with steel from north america. 40-45% of vehicles 5% of vehicles made by workers made by $16 an hour. frankly, it is surprising to me that they would negotiate that, but they did. give me a break. this is exactly what many have been calling for for many years. is it in nafta? no. of of course not. if we are objective about it and point out what the differences are, i think it's a pretty easy

decision. you have talked today about how you would like to see more certainty on the enforcement side. i get that. by the way, i appreciate you are on the goodyear board. appreciate all the work you've done over the years. we've made some progress. you are looking at a way to make sure we can have better standards. i would also say if we want mexico to do all of that, the hiring of thousands of judges and they were heights professionals, appropriate the funds necessary, take labor justice seriously. otherwise none of this happens. mexico adopted these reforms legally. they change their statutes because of disagreement and because of our willingness to say we would make good on our promise and support u.s. -- usm

ca. i know it will create the playing field for our workers. we have to consider what governs the rules during that period during the transition. , lack labor enforcement for rules that makes it enforceable. >> think you for your question. thank you also for your work. other issues where labor has worked with you in your office. let me respond, if i can, not only to that question, but the charges. we are still working to improve some of those standards. as it relates to the 70% of the product, it still would allow for chinese carbon steel to be imported into mexico.

your last point about making $16 an hour. you could have two people making 28 which is often the base salary. then you would have a number that would make 12. behind each one of the provisions you have outlined there, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done and we are working on that. we are working on trying to have a high-value target approach working with the administration to make sure that in certain trading sectors, auto and auto-parts contributing to the bilateral effort to which we've seen so much job loss, action in those workplaces e a priority first understanding it will take mexico quite some time to be able to implement all of its

commitments. we think there can be a phase frontloaded approach to make sure we get high-value targets that honor the u.s. workers the most and implement over time all of the remaining provisions. >> i hope you will be able to work through some of those issues. also not make perfect the enemy of the good. >> for you and your interests. it would be a crime if we were to end up not being able to get this agreement done and going to the next year, election year, with all the uncertainty. no question about it. the disagreement is a big improvement. >> this is a tough choice.

i will talk to you later about how you receive that. senator, you are are on deck. >> thank you. hotel dupont. was it a state senator? newly elected governor. you are smart and you worked hard. i was impressed by your humility i applaud you for the wonderful work you did as governor. to be secretary of ag, the

entire eight years of the obama administration. i have a question for three of our witnesses. an issue i raised at our last trade year. a month or two ago in june. through state to state dispute settlement systems. state to state dispute in the new nafta continues to allow for panel blocking. the main reason had been established since the early 2000 i would a call. tpp made changes. but these improvements were not included in the new nafta. none of the provisions were included.

this is one that has not been included. it appears the white house plans to use 301 terrace. enforcing the new nafta. i am concerned that using section 301 terrace was very likely. the new scene over the next year and a half or so. here are the questions. encouraged from just about all. the business certainty. i hear that every day. how the administration section in china's retaliatory tariffs impacted business certainty in the industries that you

represent. >> thank you, senator. we have a deep history with canada and mexico. these areas we are talking about covered by u.s. mba. making it possible for disputes. no one country should have the ability to block the enforcement i am not a trade expert. i will leave that to the administration and to congress. what we would hope for is the

most actual and action oriented system as possible. despite the successes we have had to have some mechanism in their support. >> you and i share something in common. we both married up. specifically to your question. the first five months of 2018 to a record month with china. we declined activity in china. we continue that impact. we would use that other than tariffs to compel enforcement. >> yes. thank you.

we have lost far more jobs to the protectionists and unfair practices of china over the years. these tariffs have brought this to the table. we are interested in relief and therefore support the continuation of tariffs. >> thanks. great to see you all. thank you. >> those rates compel. thank you. >> not a week goes by that i don't hear. >> hiring more workers. unpredictable trade policy.

tens of thousands of american jobs at risk by threatening over an issue unrelated to trade. threatening to do the same to guatemala. the tariff is just a fancy word for attacks. ultimately paid by the american people. he forces businesses to rearrange their supply chains and lose export sales due to retaliation. when we talk about strengthening labor protections, these are not insurmountable challenges. he creates more insurgencies and jeopardizes the opportunity to fix the shortcomings so we can get a trade agreement that works

for all americans, i think that's greater. >> would you agree on an issue completely unrelated to trade? as related related to uncertainty? >> a threat of tariffs just by definition to create the industry. i would say specifically tariffs have created some impact with customers specifically as you mentioned china earlier. and the impact of farmers and trade as that has felt. at the same time, the offset here is we have to at college at there have been other issues on the intellectual property side. >> how about immigration. is that where the putting

tariffs that disrupts the realities? >> i won't speak to that because i'm not an expert on that. >> if you apply tariffs to nontariff issues, you are are creating uncertainty. i had every major ceo of the company come to me. while they had different provisions of what tax reform would say, the one common thread they were involved in, they said to me two things. no matter what your tax policy is, give me predictability and certainty and we will make money. the president is driving the greatest flap of predictability in creating the greatest amount of certainty and is terror force. you all stay quiet over it. it is pretty amazing. would usmc a the president from imposing tariffs for issues not related.

>> no, senator. agriculture has deep concerns about the use of tariffs. each time they are utilized, it's agriculture. >> it can be a continued source of economic continually. >> is a correct they have essentially the same procedures governing withdraw? >> is anyone familiar? >> i have not aware of any change. help you out. they are the same procedure. >> facing the same certainty over an issue like immigration? >> the president and congress eventually end up with comprehensive immigration reform

package that makes no sense. >> we pass one in 2013. 67 votes in the senate. my point is this. it's beyond immigration. when you use tariffs for nontariff issues non-trade issues. you are creating and disrupting uncertainty. turning to labor reform, mexico enacted. a lot of work between having reforms and making those reforms enforceable. what specifically should we he looking for when it comes to questions of implementation, resources and enforcement so we can finally get an agreement with mexico that addresses the shortfalls. columbia is an example of where we went wrong. that is why did not vote for florida as a fan of the country. i was just in colombia recently. sure enough, everything everything i was worried about

is happening. what should we be looking for as it relates to mexico? >> the experience you just outlined with the standards and actual plan before those provisions were in fact appropriate implemented giving us tremendous cause. there needs to be strong certification provisions in the u.s. mca that will ensure there are certain steps that have to be taken before the agreement enters into force. looking at what mexico has already identified publicly as the steps they will take to hire the inspectors to put the infrastructure in. what we need to do to support that through a variety of mechanisms which support facilitation and capacity building on the ground. entering into force on january january 1. there is a lot of work that needs to be done before it

should be implemented so we have the confidence that you are raising about mexico doing the right thing. thank you, chair. >> mr. chairman. if i may. can i make one comment? >> you can make times immigration unrelated. i just want to speak to the trucking industry. some very direct relationships for us. as customs and border patrol people, customs to border patrol , we saw 45 minutes to up to nine to 11 hours for extended periods of time. the immigration issue to us was affecting trade. we sought in our ability to deliver on behalf of our customers. there was connectivity in our view. >> those wait times were increased. otherwise they would be much more effective.

>> senator brown. i have seven minutes before the vote. don't worry. i will be on time. >> i don't think i've been on a trade hearing and i've been through a lot of trade hearings dating back to nafta. representing segments. thank you all for coming. you made excellent statements. i wish we would quit beating up on nafta. i remember the days when the great chairman of the sometimes house agriculture committee thought i was the ranking member. having the distinction of doing that. we work terribly hard on that. take me to florida. take me to texas. well, i'm a little mixed, but

here's a guy from kansas that wanted. so let him talk. we had. if you look at the progress with several decades that followed, i had a whole series of questions to ask, but i will turn to tom vilsack who was my great friend. when he was secretary and now course in his current role. really concerned, if this continues with the tariff, the tariff retaliation are more especially with agriculture, i want to look at that scope. we are into mitigation payments. they don't want aid, they want trade and you know that. you've been a great component of that. with the demand situation that we see out there, and a continuation of no real breakthroughs, if we can

possibly get that, that is is an uphill battle. i am just very worried, other than the effects of mother nature on world demand for product where we are in 2020, 2021, 2022. if this keeps up, we will lose a lot of folks in the agriculture sector. once that happens, it is very hard, when you lose a market, it's hard to get it back. when you lose a farming operation, getting at least the same family. jumping in and taking the plunge. where are we headed? what do you say if we don't get a better situation with trade down the road for agriculture. i'm not talking about right now. >> senator, thanks for the question. last year we lost seven dairy farms a day.

in large part because of conditions and circumstances impacting and being impacted i trade. i think the future long-term can potentially be quite right because they are rising middle classes. there's an opportunity to feed an ever increasing population. having said that, i think it will be incredibly important for us to have trade agreements that provide a level playing field. let me give you an example. in japan, we essentially invited the european union to come in, complete their free trade agreement. if we do not get a fair level playing field in japan with our european friends in our new zealand friends, we could lose a third of our market share. as opposed to the possibility of decreasing the volume by twice the volume and triple the value

of dairy sales in japan if we just have a level playing field. that is an example of the opportunities that exist, but it does require us to be more competitive and it does require us to have a level playing field and that requires trade agreements that level that playing field. it starts with u.s. mca. that is where our number one market is. preserving that market and expanding opportunity in canada. >> i appreciate your comment. i want to thank both. u.s. mca. tom, thank you. thank you to all the witnesses. we will do the best we can on this committee. having it the bipartisan way. thank you so much. >> senator brown. >> thank you so much. i want to focus on the need for, perhaps not surprised for some of you, anti-outsourcing

provisions. labored environmental standards. trade agreements. offshore jobs to low-wage countries like mexico because it helps their bottom line. in 24 team, goodyear. announced they were going to make a $500 million investment on a new manufacturing facility in the americas. i wrote the ceo urging to consider building that plant in ohio with our generational workforce. they chose instead -- it opened in 2017. the representative who is the ways and means committee chair, house democrats to mexico earlier this month. they asked in advance if they could go through the facility. goodyear said no. they showed up and asked if they could enter, goodyear said no. we know why the company does not

want members of congress to go through the facility. less than $6 an hour. many far lower than that. subject to a protection contract. collective bargaining agreement. mexican style of their past governments by the employer or the employee. going on strike within a year of the plant opening to protest the low-wage and working conditions. the company turned around and fired dozens of these workers. they built that factory in mexico onset of acheron. they would not have to live up to u.s. labor standards. making more money for executives at the expense of american jobs. our trade agreements again let them get away with it. this new nafta is no different. stopping american jobs from going to mexico. if they do not make improvements

, the outsourcing revisions are -- more will be billed in mexico than ohio. they all mentioned the brown white amendment and what that means. it is what we are fighting for. we want our trade agreements to stop the race for the bottom. not exacerbate and accelerate it. .... .... i know you're on the board and have fiduciary responsibility to goodyear and ask you to answer these as labor representative on the panel and since i don't have a lot of time left give yes or no answers but you agree, is

like goodyear building new factories in mexico and not in the u.s. because they can pay the mexican workers lower wages? >> do believe the u.s. comedy with nine members of congress access to their mexican facilities because they were not one elected officials to see their labor violations? >> yes spirit to be without the changes democrats are asking for the new nafta will let companies continue to make off shoring decisions like that with the community? >> yes. >> agreed the facility level inspections and enforcement and the core of [inaudible] which i described earlier necessary to make sure nafta outsourcing means something? >> i would say it's vital, yes. >> i ask unanimous consent to insert two things into the record. first, mr. chairman, a letter i wrote to the ceo of goodyear. the ceo of goodyear to richard kramer and 2014 hurting the company to build new factory in ohio and second, the letter sent

to the same ceo, mr. kramer, yesterday by house democrats asking the company to respond to worker reports of a labor violation at the facility and those members of congress were denied access to. >> with no injection, they will be included. senator cortez. >> thank you, mr. chair. i'm committed, i think, and it said this in the past to work collaboratively to get a positive outcome here and i think we all do. there are good things in the proposal i have seen but we also know more work needs to be done and i do want to reaffirm my hope the administration will continue to work with the democrats to incorporate the brown white and label enforcement program and to ensure bipartisan support and i also want people to know in the better we do have a dairy industry so there are some good proposals and opportunities there. thank you for the hard work. let me ask you, you talked about

it earlier which are the protection contracts and for dealing with mexico and i understand mexico wants to phase in their compliance over a four-year time. and what is your understanding of why the old protection contracts allowed to continue for up to four years before they are phased in? why is that unacceptable? >> two things. one, the provisions of mexican labor law if fully implemented, funded et cetera will require that for any new contract it be voted on by the workers. four-year phase in regards existing contracts and during the four-year time everyone will have to be voted on. they have tried to have an orderly process with 700,000 or however many of those agreements exist and they are trying to be able to accommodate that. our view is it needs to be a shorter time and be frontloaded in terms of making sure the most

trade impacted or traded sensitive ones vis-à-vis u.s. jobs be voted on as early as possible. >> what's the short period of time you're looking for? >> we like to see this by mid next year. >> okay. is this something you identified earlier that the ustr in-house working group is a something they're working on as well? >> as i said earlier, this administration has been more aggressive about engagement and more responsive than any i've seen and i've done this for four years. there's still a lot of work and this is one of the items on the table and i don't think democrats are willing to push their chairs away from the table until this issue is addressed as well. >> how long are you anticipating it will take the mexican government to build its legal intersection to make sure reforms are supplemented?

>> they have a document, department of labor has put out that has a schedule for implementation and we think that needs to be kept and they need to be kept strictly to the schedule and again as i said earlier entry into force of the agreement should be delayed until there is a certification that they are, in fact, living up to the standards and commitments they made. >> thank you. thank you all for being here. >> i have two questions i want to ask and then it no one else shows up we will adjourn. governor blunt, the u.s. international trade commission has highlighted that the agreement has a number of important economic things including 176,000 new jobs for our countries but however you say the benefits will be even larger particularly for the auto industry and i would like to have you since you have a good view on this good it's plain how you come to that conclusion and the benefits that i read about?

>> certainly, senator. thank you for the question. we believe the changes in u.s. mca particularly the changes in the rule of origin will drive tremendous investments in the united states and north america but in the united states in particular. ustr has done analysis based on plans submitted by the company's what they need to do in the transition plans they need to follow to comply and if you aggregate those you had $34 billion of new automated investment over a five-year time with $23 million of annual sourcing of the u.s. parts and then they conclude over 76000 new jobs. we think the jobs number in particular is probably conservative but all those numbers are easy to support an hour three member companies, m mca, general motors have deep footprint in the united states

and have announced $6 billion in investment and of all three have cited the need to comply with rules of origin and part of the way they've invested or located at investment in the united states. >> thank you for that answer. i want to ask mr. wessels do you agree or don't you agree three questions. do you agree this is the first time we have had such strong labor and environmental commitments in a free-trade agreement? >> yes, but they need enforcement provisions and certain standards need to be fixed. >> okay. i have publicly expressed my willingness as lighthizer is doing to try to see what we can reach particularly you get this through the u.s. house of representatives and also by any major labor and environment commitments in the agreement exceed those of any other free trade agreement would you agree on that? >> i would say labor they are a

step forward which labor has indicated on debarment they are a number of mbas that are not subject to commitments so the environment is a step backwards in many areas. >> okay. the u.s. mca labor commitments have heavily encouraged mexico's to pass and then commit to expeditiously implement historic labor reforms and do you agree i think i heard through the previous question you responded to this so that a repetitive question but still answer. >> we are very appreciative of the steps mexico has taken to implement the constitutional changes in past two years ago, i believe it was. they still need work and we are in fact deeply engaged organized labor to try to make sure they are able to implement all of those on the ground. >> as i should for the hard work of all six of you have put into this is to thank you for your

kind commitments and being here from your busy schedules to answer questions and your input has been extremely valuable and i think that i want to see this agreement get through even if some changes have to be made to be satisfied to get it to the house of representatives and to bring more jobs and more opportunity to america farmers, businesses and benefit our consumers. for the benefit or staff i think it's normal we will have until close of business august 13 for questions to be submitted in writing and with you folks get such questions i hope you will respond to them. thank you all very much. meeting adjourned.

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[silence] >> congress is out for the august recess returning in early september. right now lawmakers are traveling in israel and minnesota represented if did tweeted this picture thing shortly after arriving in isra israel, we traveled to the iron dome defense system, which protects the people of israel by intercepting and storing incoming rocket fire. this is a strong example of u.s. israel defense alliance.

wisconsin representative tweeted this picture of his visit in israel writing -- visited cal sacco in the valley of the lab where david slade goliath. when congress returns watch live coverage of the house on c-span and live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. >> a group of journalists talk about some of the challenges of coming climate change issues and the energy industry. during an event hosted by the atlantic council. this is 90 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon everyone. welcome to the atlantic council but my name