Yesterday, November 20, Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and eleven other senators, all Republicans, sent a letter to President Trump urging him to work towards Congressional approval now for the new NAFTA, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). That means this year. Next year, of course, there will be a new Congress, the 116th. Democrats will control the House, and things will be different. Senator Toomey elaborated on that thought in an article in today's Wall Street Journal. He wrote:
"Entrusting House Democrats with passing the USMCA is a dicey proposition at best. Many of the newly elected Democrats ran on opposition to all things Trump ... ."
As Senator Toomey sees it, the President faces a tough choice. He can either "make further trade restricting concessions," and hope that will be enough to get House Democrats to okay the pact next year; or, alternatively, he can
"make protrade modifications in the implementing legislation and enact the USMCA under a Republican controlled Congress before the end of this year. I urge him to choose the latter."
Of the two documents, Senator Toomey's op-ed focuses on the political reasoning behind the push for USMCA now, while the letter from the 12 Republican Senators lays out the legal requirements. We usually just quote excerpts from the documents we highlight. Yesterday's letter from the Senate 12, however, deserves to be quoted in its entirely, and here it is:
November 20, 2018
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing because we stand ready to assist in helping you secure a pathway to Congressional consideration of the recently concluded United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) this 115th Congress.
We are concerned that if the Administration waits until next year to send to Congress a draft implementing bill, passage of the USMCA as negotiated will become significantly more difficult.
It is still possible for the current Congress to consider and vote on the USMCA before the end of the 115th Congress, and do so by using Trade Promotion Authority's procedural protections, including a simple majority vote in the Senate. Your administration can preserve the option of passing the agreement this session by submitting to Congress as soon as possible and before November 30th-a copy of the final legal text of the agreement and a draft statement of administrative action as required by Sec. 106(a)(l)(D) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-26). These documents can be transmitted to Congress at any time, including prior to the agreement being signed, and on any calendar day. This step would also start the clock on a mandatory 30-day waiting period before a draft implementing bill may be submitted to Congress on a day when both chambers are in session.
If you choose to pursue consideration of the USMCA before the end of the 115th Congress, we commit to working with you in a consultative manner to draft implementing legislation that could win our votes, as well as a majority in the House and Senate.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. We stand ready to assist in helping you secure USMCA passage this Congress.
Sincerely,
Sen. Pat Toomey [Pennsylvania]
Sen. Lamar Alexander [Tennessee]
Sen. Steve Daines [Montana]
Sen. Deb Fischer [Nebraska]
Sen. Jeff Flake [Arizona]
Sen. Ron Johnson [Wisconsin]
Sen. Jon Kyl [Arizona]
Sen. James Lankford [Oklahoma]
Sen. Mike Lee [Utah]
Sen. Rob Portman [Ohio]
Sen. Ben Sasse [Nebraska]
Sen. Ten Cruz [Texas]
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