Watson Coleman Statement on Vote Against USMCA

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) voted against the United States- Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and issued the following statement:

“When deciding whether to support the USMCA, I have had two primary considerations: its impact on workers and its impact on the environment. The USMCA agreement does not adequately protect either.

“I applaud the Democratic negotiators for working to improve the deeply flawed deal presented last year by the President. Unfortunately, the agreement before the House does not my thresholds for support. American workers have been battered for years under NAFTA with devastating and long-lasting impact – most notably stagnating wages and increased outsourcing of jobs. The USMCA does not fully address labor standards in Mexico and inspection and enforcement mechanisms are lacking,  leaving U.S. based workers vulnerable to continued outsourcing.

“The USMCA also falls short on the environmental front. It’s completely silent on climate change,  does little to protect clean air and water, and fails to require disclosure of data on pesticide use. This agreement does not do enough to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels at the very moment we need to be moving towards a clean energy future.

“Workers have been struggling under NAFTA for 25 years and there finally seems to be a bipartisan consensus that it needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, the President was simply unwilling to craft a deal that truly supported the American workers he once promised to champion. This isn’t the trade agreement workers or future generations deserve.”

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