The Latest from Washington

I issued the following statements regarding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), H.R. 2740 and H. Res. 430:

USMCA
"Free trade is critical to America's Promise, Prosperity and Safety – it opens new markets for American-made goods and fuels our economic growth. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) modernizes and rebalances our trade relationships with Mexico and Canada for the 21st century, and replaces the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA, as negotiated under President Trump, will better serve the interests of American workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses, and lead to freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in North America.

"Earlier this week, Mexico became the first country to approve and ratify the USMCA. Millions of Texas jobs depend on a strengthened trading partnership with Mexico and Canada, and it is time for the U.S. Congress to take swift action and pass the USMCA. Each day of delay limits the potential for our economy, Texas workers and businesses to fully benefit from this modernized 21st century agreement.”

H.R. 2740 - FY 2020 Appropriations Package
"One of the fundamental duties of Congress is to set funding levels and policy guidelines so the federal government can continue to serve all Americans. This week, the House finished consideration of H.R. 2740, a package of four appropriations bills intended to fund federal departments including Labor; Health and Human Services; Education; Defense; State; and Energy for fiscal year 2020. The package totals nearly $1 trillion in discretionary spending - an irresponsible and unrealistic $176 billion increase above our current spending caps. The bill jeopardizes the safety and security of Texas families by imposing cuts to our military, failing to address the crisis at our southern border and repealing the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which is critical in allowing our servicemembers to fight ISIS and other terrorists abroad. Additionally, the bill guts important, longstanding pro-life protections and spends $100 million in taxpayer dollars to bail out failed Obamacare programs.

"All of my Republican colleagues and I voted against this fiscally irresponsible bill. Speaker Pelosi’s actions to jam this partisan spending bill through, when there is no consensus between the House, Senate and White House on a budget agreement, increases the likelihood of another government shutdown and sequestration, resulting in further devastating cuts to our military. Hardworking Texas families deserve better than the reckless Pelosi agenda."

H. Res. 430
"Last week, the House Democrat Majority continued their efforts to attack and impeach President Trump. Congress needs to remember that Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, issued thousands of subpoenas, interviewed hundreds of witnesses, reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and generated numerous indictments; however, it found no collusion, cooperation or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian interests; and it found insufficient evidence of obstruction of justice to justify charges. Despite this conclusion, House Democrats continue to relitigate this issue on the House floor searching for evidence that does not exist. Instead of continuing traditional good-faith negotiations between the Department of Justice and the House Judiciary Committee, House Democrats rushed a resolution to the floor that would push civil proceedings to enforce subpoenas and potentially disclose federally protected grand jury information. This resolution also authorizes any House committee to go to court to press contempt charges without any further House action. By rushing to the courts in this manner, dangerous new precedents with respect to legitimate Congressional oversight may be set, damaging Congress’ Article I powers.

"The most troubling aspect of this purely partisan exercise is that House Democrat efforts to obtain legally protected grand jury information violate current law. Hardworking Texas families deserve better than their obstructionist agenda of continued Trump administration attacks. The House Democrat Majority should work with Republicans on behalf of the American people to address the important issues facing our country like the humanitarian and security crises along our southern border, addressing high prescription drug costs and reforming our health care system."