and every week since we are a little closer to an armed conflict, and the events of these past weeks have likely turbo charged the dangerous path that we're on. going back to the time of the vietnam war and thereafter, elected leaders of both political parties have lied to the american people. the american people were told we're making progress when we weren't. the american people were told that insurgencies were, quote, in their last throes, unquote, when the opposite was true. and the american people demand that politicians don't make serious mistakes that lead to war. the good news is we still have time. we have time to get it right, time to engage in hard-nosed diplomacy, time to reject a policy of regime change regarding iran. there's time for this administration to outline and implement an effective iran

strategy that substantially reduces the likelihood of war and a nuclear-armed iran. the time is running short. the administration may be committed to a policy of regime change, but the senate can act. we can pass a bipartisan s.j. res. 68 and other measures to make sure that this administration cannot take us recklessly to war with iran without congressional authorization or a declaration of war. we owe it to the american people and to our service members to do this. mr. president, i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: is the chamber currently in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mrs. blackburn: i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. over the past few months, we have spent a great deal of time in this chamber discussing our adversarial relationships with other countries, but today i want to draw attention to a truly great economic and foreign policy victory negotiated with one of our adversaries. in fact, it was signed just a few hours ago. when it comes to trade, we've devoted most of our energy to drafting and promoting the benefits of the usmca, but we've

also gotten a great start on two other trade deals. those that were negotiated with japan that went into effect january 1, and also with china, signed today. and we're looking forward to this chamber passing the usmca this week and sending it to the president's desk. back home in tennessee, what i hear from our agriculture community is we want trade, consistent, dependable, respectful, fair trade. entrepreneurs depend on consistent productive trade relations to keep their businesses up and running and put food on their employees' tables. these tennesseans play a special role in the u.s. relationship with china. in 2017, we exported

$2.7 billion worth of goods to china. that is from the state of tennessee. imports from china accounted for 7.3% of tennessee's g.d.p. in 2018. they are our third largest trading partner after canada and mexico and let me tell you, when things go south with the chinese, tennesseans feel the heat because of our ag trade. mr. president, they are really paying attention to the ins and outs of our dealings with china, the good and the bad, and they see the news stories about china's behavior in hong kong and taiwan, about spying and about intellectual property theft and about those shady apps that children have probably downloaded onto their phones and their tablets, and yes indeed they are rightfully concerned. they're concerned because they see all of this in the context of their day-to-day lives, and

they know that diplomatic tensions have just as much potential to derail their operations as economic tensions. make no mistake, today's signed deal with china is critical because it couples desperately needed relief with backstops that will help to keep our friends in beijing in line. so what does that look like? china agreed to increase purchases of american products and services by at least $200 billion over the next two years, which will reduce our trade deficit and take care of our farmers, our energy producers, and our manufacturers. they committed to reducing nontariff barriers to agriculture products and ease restrictions on the approval of new buyer technology. american producers are covered in terms of free-flowing goods,

and when it comes to the nuts and bolts of the business of innovation, the phase one deal includes stronger chinese legal protections for patents, trademarks, and copyrights. we wrote in improved criminal and civil procedures to combat online infringement and the exchange of pirated and counterfeit goods. these are good signs for our creative community in tennessee. it contains commitments by china to follow through on pledges to eliminate pressure on foreign companies to transfer technology to chinese firms before they're given market access. and i will tell you we're going to be keeping an eagle eye on this one as we move to the phase two negotiations. it also includes new pledges by china to refrain from competitive currency devaluation

and exchange rate manipulation. all of this is covered by enforcement measures u.s. officials can trigger if we discover beijing is acting in bad faith. and, mr. president, i will tell you so many in our agricultural community have said these enforcement mechanisms, this is what is going to make a difference in their ability to count on trade. now, these protections are more than just an ace up our sleeve. it's peace of mind for every american who depends on trade to support their family. so phase s. 1 in the books. and what's next? more of the nuts and bolts that i just talked about. if you've been following the past few years of our relations with china, you know that business, trying to deal with beijing run the constant risk of

losing control over their own inventions, intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers have defined china's relationship with foreign businesses. this is what they complain about. they still -- steal those inventions, and sometimes actually beat them or match them moving into the marketplace. in phase two, we'll be negotiating a deal that ensures participation in the chinese market is not dependent on these unbalanced arrangements. our efforts will be backed by previously passed legislation that enhanced our controls on the export of new technology like advanced robotics and artificial intelligence and strengthen reviews of foreign investment in the u.s. we know it's an uphill battle. we certainly believe it can be done. and i want to make it clear that no trade deal is ever going to

be perfect. it's impossible, but the first phase of this is a good, solid first step. we're taking care of our producers, our workers and opening up the flow of goods and services. we're protecting our innovators in a way that will allow them to prospect in one of the globe's most competitive markets without risking the loss of their intellectual property. we're giving business owners and families peace of mind in the form of enforcement mechanisms that will kick in the moment officials determine our relationship with china is about to go off the rails. today our president signed this deal on behalf of the american people, and i encourage my colleagues to get involved now as we move forward with discussions for phase two. i yield the floor and notice the

absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to calendar number 406,

h.r. 5430. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to h.r. 45430, an -- 5430, an act to implement the agreement between the united states and canada to replace the united states-mexico-canada agreement. the presiding officer: the motion is not debatable. the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: calendar number 406, h.r. 5330, an act to implement the agreement between the united states of america, the united mexican state to replace the north american free trade agreement. the presiding officer: in accordance with section 151 of the trade act, there will be 20 hours of debate equally divided

between the two leaders or their designees. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: and that my fellow would have privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. a lot is happening right now across the country and here in washington, d.c., in the house and the senate, across the globe for that matter. a lot of issues but there's one that has really not received the attention it should which is about a group of americans who have suffered enormous calamity in the last few days who deserve our attention and our focus. i'm speaking, of course, about the devastation in puerto rico. seismologists report that over 1,200 tremors, earthquakes,

after shocks have struck the island since january 1. more than 70 of these were of a magnitude 3.5 or greater. residents on the island have felt at least a hundred of these earthquakes. the largest, a magnitude 6.4 struck last tuesday taking one life and injuring many others. more than two weeks after the earth started shaking, these quakes and aftershocks are still going on. in fact, this last weekend the island was struck by an earthquake with a 5.9 magnitude. yesterday morning a 4.6 magnitude tremor. this morning a 5.1 magnitude quake. the damage from these quakes is so severe, it can be seen from space. according to nassau, the

satellite shows that near the epicenter of the quake have moved five and a half inches. that is a very dramatic change in the landscape. but you don't have to be in space. you don't have to be -- to have those images or orbiting the planet looking down to see the damage because the damage is everywhere. $110 million in damage estimated by the governor's office. other estimates from the geological survey now have the damage approaching a billion dollars. power has been restored to most of the island but periodic outages are still happening in different parts of the island and severe energy conservation is in place. the plant was so severely damaged, they're telling us that it will take over a year to get

it up and running. that island needs 500 mega watts of emergency generation until that plant is fixed. as of last thursday, hundreds of thousands were without water. the world renown chef jose andres relief organization, the world central kitchen has served tens of thousands of meals in just the last few days. buildings and homes collapsed, destroyed. thousands living outside their home both from the damage done and the damage feared. it's reported that a total of 559 structures are affected. look at this picture. look at this pile of rubble lined up and crossing the street of collapsed buildings. hundreds of piles like that

where building, or parts -- buildings or parts of buildings once stood. thousands in shelters. thousands sleeping on hammocks or inflatable mattresses or tents because they're afraid to sleep in their homes. my heart goes out to the people of puerto rico who are enduring yet another natural disaster while they still have been fighting to rebuild their homes and their lives after the destruction of hurricane maria three years ago. the truth is we haven't done nearly enough to help them, not nearly enough from the last disaster has made it to the island to help them repair all that damage done. the aid that has come has not come quickly enough. indeed just today we're hearing that the aid that was supposed to be released no later than last september, $8 billion

related to hurricane maria is being released or at least put in the federal register so it can be prepared to be released years after the disaster. when that aid was needed immediately after the disaster to rebuild. the citizens of puerto rico are american citizens. now, they don't have a vote in this chamber and that is a problem we should remedy because what we see is when citizens don't have a senator that represents them, there's no one to stand up and advocate with the same ferocity and passion as somebody elected by those individuals. so the rest of us need to stand in. democrats and republicans, senators from the south and the north, east and wez we need to stand -- and west we need to

stand in together on behalf of our fellow americans in this devastated landscape of puerto rico. mr. president, this neglect of the citizens of puerto rico, of this island that is part of america is staggering. that's why i've joined with senator schumer and 31 of my democratic colleagues on a letter to president trump supporting the governor of puerto rico's request for a major disaster declaration. but this shouldn't be a partisan letter. let's all join together, democrats and republicans together, to fight for the aid that is needed by our fellow citizens. now, president trump signed a declaration that provides only $5 million for immediate energy services -- emergency services. $5 million isn't close to

addressing what the geological survey says is close to a billion dollars in damage. that $5 million, it's useful but far more is going to be needed. far more removing debris and building temporary shelters and providing electric generators and distributing food and water, providing immediate emergency life-saving medical care. but they're going to need a lot of help in addition for long-term rebuilding and a major disaster declaration can help in that. that has not happened. it's been sitting on the desk in the oval office since last saturday. let's join together, democrats and republicans together and say, mr. president, sign that declaration that brings along with it crisis counseling, help rebuilding homes, help repairing roads, help restoring bridges,

water control, water supply, clean water supply is so important to health. water treatment so important to preventing cholera. job training, aid for business businesses. that's the type of thorough, significant assistance that people of puerto rico need and they need it right now. not tomorrow and not a month from now, not years from now. they need it now. so i say let's join together and call on president trump to sign that major disaster declaration that unleashes this help. there's a lot going on in the world, mr. president, a lot right here in washington. we prepare for one of the rare moments in american history where we will be conducting a trial related to articles of impeachment. just a week ago tuesday, eight

days ago, i was sitting in front of a television very worried about escalation to major war with iran. so there are big issues going on, absolutely. but let these big issues not prevent us from addressing the plight of our fellow americans. let's pay attention. let's make sure the people of puerto rico are neither ignored nor neglected. mr. president, swift action is needed. let's join together and make it happen. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you very

much. last week the senate finance committee and the entire senate to some extent lost a dedicated public servant. and by the way, an all-around wonderful man with the unexpected passing of chris allen. chris has been a member of the finance committee tax team since 2018. i was fortunate that he was willing to continue in that role when i reclaimed the gavel last year after the retirement of my friend and former chairman orrin hatch. as members were blessed with the dedicated people like chris who come to capitol hill to perform a public service, they come here to make a difference no matter

what their party or ideology. they come from all walks of life, religious backgrounds, and from all over the country. they work long hours and sometimes their work is stymied by the political headwinds that we know about here in the congress of the united states. but when an idea is a good one and the people pursuing it do so with a full heart and focused mind, it will eventually become law. last year proved to be a year when a number of good ideas finally became law in the area of retirement security and in no small part because of chris' hard work and dedication.

after more than three years, we were finally able to pass the finance committee's retirement enhanced and savings act. we use acronyms around here and that's resa. resa became law after it was incorporated setting every community up for retirement enhancement act and that acronym is secure. chris was very instrumental in helping navigate the long and at times very contennous -- owe contentious process that culminated in this important package of retirement provisions being enacted just before the last christmas. possibly even more important,

chris brought a very deep knowledge of multiemployer pensions to bear over the past several years to help us move forward on important returns -- reforms. in the last congress chris served as the staff director of the joint select committee on solvency of multiemployer pension plans. congress formed this committee for the very important job of addressing the impending insolvency of a number of multiemployer plans and the projected insolvency of the multiemployer fund of pension benefit guarantee corporation -- guaranty corporation. with chris' steady hand and chris' tireless efforts, the joint select committee laid a

critical foundation in 2018 for addressing the multiemployer pension crisis. and throughout all of 2019, chris carried that work forward as a member of my finance committee staff. through months of work with finance committee member offices and also working with the help committee, working with the ppgc, and most importantly, stakeholder groups that are affected by whatever reform we do, chris was the one leading the effort to build on the joint select committee's work of the previous year. that effort led to the development of the multiemployer pension recapitalization and reform plan that chairman

alexander and i released in november. resolving the multiemployer pension crisis remains a top priority and now with another important reason to see it done in chris' memory because he put so much effort into where we are at this point. no you while chris -- now, while chris has been a key assess to the committee, his department of knowledge was very much deeper than just that issue. prior to joining the committee, chris served as senator roberts' senior policy tax advisor for seven years, and chris played a key role in helping us develop and pass the tax cuts and jobs act of 2017.

and in that effort, he focused heavily on the tax rules affecting farmers and ranchers across the nation, which farmers and ranchers are a key interest of senator roberts and the state of kansas. a close look at chris' resume shows that he was very successful in working for the national association of state treasurers and then with another organization, the financial accounting foundation. he also worked at other firms linked to his expertise in financial services, regulation, and legislation. what stands out about chris is his ability to bring folks with very different views together in the classic legislative process. and, boy, i watched him on this

multiemployer pension issues that we have with how he navigated all that. i thought to myself, without chris, this couldn't be done. you know, he had great ability with numbers and great dedication to public policy. that's what made chris stand out. i'm confident that, had the good lord not taken chris last week, he'd remain a fixture on the finance committee staff for many years to come. public service was very simply at the core of chris' identity as a professional. and a key to chris' success was his genial nature. and you might not know it by looking at him, but he had a

very quick wit. it seems like everybody felt comfortable with chris, and chris was comfortable with them. and he had a lot of contentious meetings. some of them i had a chance to observe his working with the stakeholders on multiemployer pensions, and i saw that comfort they had with him, even when he was trying to go maybe just a little different direction than certain interest groups maybe wanted to go, because chris knew that to get anything done in this body, you've got to work compromise. as you can tell, with chris, policy work was fun. policy work was important. and policy work he sought overall a long period of time. and i hope i'm pointing out that

this type of goodwill and dedication was infectious. every day was meaningful. every day was a source of joy. as i said in my statement on friday night after i learned of chris' passing, chris was a public servant who brought a deep well of knowledge to his work. we all know he's going to leave behind a legacy of impact on so many lives that he was able to improve with his expertise, with his confidence, and the example he set with his hard work. but he never let that keep him from living life to the fullest, especially where his family was concerned.

you learn this things about staff family with the passing. but chris was a devoted father to two wonderful father. avenues loving husband for nearly 30 years to his wife, linda marie. chris was a thoughtful and compassionate son and brother. chris was a fierce friend to so many who came to know him during his 58 years. chris knew how to live life. losing chris is extremely difficult for all of us. at times the finger of god reaches down and takes a person that we know and love. it's not for us to know why that happened. what we do know is we all got to know chris and got to know him well. he was part of our lives.

and we all benefited from the time that we had with him. we're all blessed to have that. for his family and the countless others who had the good fortune to know and work with chris allen, a piece of him will live on with us, each of us, in every memory of him. whether it was of chris' positivity and sincerity or the endless way he could inject humor into a very difficult situation, chris was a blessing to those who were fortunate enough to know him. rest in peace, my friend, chris allen. god bless chris' family and may he show them his grace, as they take these next steps in their

own life's path. chris will be greatly missed. i yield the floor. and i should probably suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today after speaker pelosi today ended her delay of the senate impeachment trial. you know, for the past month the american people have watched the speaker, i believe, make a spectacle of herself. we talked about the need to pass this in a way that was rushed, that was partisan, that was sloppy, but they had to get it

done, and their key word from the speaker and so many in the house's word -- urgency. have to get this done, they said. urgency, urgency, urgency. so they took the vote in the house before christmas, and then the speaker decided to sit on this for four long weeks, blocking the move, moving the articles from the house to the senate by refusing to send over the necessary papers. in the end the american people, including key members of the democrats and the cincinnati, cincinnati, -- democrats and the senate, realized this was just a political stunt. even senate democrats lost patience with her cynical scheming. the american people saw what this was, a harvard harris poll said 56% of americans said what

she was doing was just a political stunt. mr. president, we're talking about the impeachment of a president of the united states, and the speaker of the house says, no, it was just a political stunt. she should have done her job. she should have delivered the articles in a timely manner. nevertheless, mr. president, today senate republicans are ready to move forward. we have majority support to adopt rules used in the impeachment trial of president clinton. president trump deserves the same treatment. in 1999 all 100 senators, all 100, including the democratic leader, senator schumer, they all voted for these rules. 77% of the american public say hey, it's good enough for clinton, we ought to do the same thing today. so after making his own unreasonable demands for weeks, senator schumer now says he's ready to begin the trial. yet the truth is democrats have already made a mockery, a mockery of impeachment. what they really want is a show

trial, not a fair trial. and that's what happened in the house of representatives. it was all for show. what do i mean by that? let's take a look at what happened in the house. first of all, their hearings were in secret behind closed doors in the basement of the capitol. and then they selectively released misleading information to deny the president due process, and they denied the president the opportunity to face his accusers, to face the whistle-blower, even though immediately interesting at first they said, oh, the whistle-blower will testify. then, no, no, no, we don't want you to know even who the whistle-blower is or what reason , personal issues related to the whistle-blower may have brought forth the reason for that person to come forward where their alliances may lie. the democrats have always known they cannot remove this

president. their real agenda, the 2020 elections. the presidential election, the senate elections. thankfully the democrats three-year long partisan impeachment effort, the goal to impeach from day one is finally nearing an end. and it was from day one, mr. president. we saw elizabeth warren, candidate for president, on the debate stage last night, but in december of 2016, after donald trump had been elected but before he had even been sworn in, she held a press conference talking about impeaching him. the day the president took the oath of office, there was a headline in "the washington post," the campaign to impeach the president has begun. and now here we are over three years later since election day of 2016, and we're getting ready to have votes in iowa in

just three weeks, less than three weeks. so this isn't really about trying to remove president trump from office. it's trying to influence the vote in 2020. with voting in iowa three weeks away, the general election not far away, on november 3 voters, not congress, are going to decide whether to keep president trump in office. the president has a terrific record to stand on. seven million new jobs since he was elected. seven million new jobs. cut taxes, gutted regulations that were punishing to the economy. trade deals today signing in china, with china, additional trade deals. we're going to pass usmca tomorrow. there's a new trade deal with japan. unemployment at an all-time low. all-time low. 50-year low in unemployment in this country. wages going up. it's time for the democrats to

stop wasting the time of the american people, mr. president. you know it. there are jobs that need to be done. congress needs to get its job done, which is focusing on the issues that the american public care about -- roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, infrastructure, key legislation we need to be advancing, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, helping people get insulin that's cheaper for them. we need to help those families, mr. president. we need to secure the border. that's what's going on, mr. president. just think that we are going to spend the amount of time that we are going to spend on impeachment as a result of what the house has been doing and the democrats have been doing since day one is a misuse of taxpayer money and it's a misuse of the time of congress to do the job that we were elected to do, to help the american people. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i ask for a vitiation of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise in support of s.j. resolution 68, to prevent an unnecessary and unauthorized war against iran. i thank my friend from virginia, senator kaine, as well as senators dick durbin, rand paul

and senator lee for standing up for our laws and the constitution, which gives congress, not the president, to make war and to authorize the use of military force. mr. president, the assassination of iranian general soleimani was a massive, deliberate, and dangerous escalation with iran by donald trump. rather than deterring new attacks on american interest, as the administration insists, soleimani's assassination invited them, and they came in the form of airstrikes on u.s. air bases in iraq. but instead of sharing with congress and the american people information and intelligence to justify the soleimani attack, president trump and his counselors have deflected, fabricated and just plain refused to tell the truth about the so-called imminent threat that was prevented. we now have press reports

confirming that president trump authorized the killing of general soleimani seven months ago. the administration doesn't just look to ms. representing the imminent -- misrepresenting the imminent threat of soleimani, it appears to fabricate information to bypass congress's constitutional role to authorize war. last week president trump revealed more information on the killing to a fox news percent, and he gave more information to that percent on fox than he did in a 75-minute briefing to the entire united states senate. that is completely and totally unacceptable. fox news should not know more about our national security interest than the 100 senators who sit here as a responsibility to ensure that we are a check

and balance on the executive branch. no evidence has been presented to support president trump's position that iran would probably target four u.s. embassies, an assertion that was contradicted days later by his own secretary of defense. perhaps that is why president trump's latest defense is just to simply throw up his hands saying, i'm sorry. i'm not giving you the information which you need. he tweets that the imminence test, quote, does not really matter because of soleimani's horrible past. so it's no longer an imminent threat from his perspective because he says it really doesn't matter. he decides, and he decides without consultation with the united states congress. so here is the lesson that donald trump seems unwilling or

unable to learn. the truth does matter. in matters of war and peace, the truth is not negotiable. trump's reckless actions has puts tens of thousands of american armed forces, diplomats, and civilians at greater risk. and his continued fabrications about intelligence threatens to draw the united states into an illegal war with the country of iran. look at what has happened as a result of trump's escalation. our iraqi strategic partners are demanding u.s. troops leave bases in iraq prematurely increasing the chance that isis reconstitutes itself in the region. the truth matters. iran has announced that it was no longer bound by enrichment restrictions under the deal. this only makes it more likely that iran will hasten its quest for a nuclear bomb. the truth matters.

despite donald trump's best efforts, the united states is a country that abides by the rule of law. congress has the sole authority to make and authorize war. neither the 2001 nor the 2002 authorizations for the use of military force can be used to provide legal cover for a war with iran, and we owe it to the american people to repeal these obsolete authorizations which presidents of both political parties have abused to justify military campaigns in far-flung parts of the planet. to guard against another quagmire, as we experienced in vietnam, congress acted through the war powers resolution of 1983 to rein in presidential overreach when it came to war. that ma makes it clear that the president cannot put our brave men and women in harm's way without a vote by congress or if

there's an armed attack on the united states, neither the 2001 nor the 2002 authorization for the use of military force provides legal cover for the killing of soleimani or any other future attacks against the country of iran. it bears repeating this a possible war with iran did not begin with iran's attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad nor did it begin with the president's decision to select the extreme option of assassinating soleimani. the uptick in iran's attacks in the region and that of its proxies can be traced to president trump's unilateral an irresponsible exit from the iran nuclear deal. the deal to put inspectors and every one of the iranian nuclear facilities. the iran deal was working.

it was the best tool we had to ensure iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. that was until trump's capricious decision to pull out of the deal and crush iran by ratcheting up american sanctions. trump is now doubling down on his failed approach by ratcheting up sanctions on new sectors of the iranian economy. this escalation will make the trump deal that he says he wants all the more elusive. before the united states backed out of iran deal, the president's own c.i.a. director, director of national intelligence, and the united nations international watchdog agency said iran was upholding its end of the deal. iran was upholding its end of the nuclear deal. since then, however, iran has moved away from its nuclear commitment in phases. most recently, iran announced it

was no longer bound by enrichment restrictions under the deal. we can still salvage a diplomatic outcome. all of iran's steps are reversible. for one, iran remains party to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty requiring it to forswear acquisition of a nuclear bomb. additionally international inspectors from the international atomic energy agency maintain access to iranian nuclear sites to detect and deter any ramp up of enrichment or reprocessing. but putting the united states back into a position where we are not going to war will require a change in strategy by the president of the united states. it means a commitment from the president, one, to cease any further military action as today's resolution calls for. two, engaging in talks with iranian president or other

senior leaders to defuse the crisis to support our allies as they work in good faith to preserve the iran nuclear deal. three, make clear that the united states does not seek to impose regime change in iran. the future of iran must be decided by the iranian people alone. fourth, cease any and all threats against iranian cultural sites and civilians. these would be war crimes, destroying cultural sites is what isis does, it's what the tax bill does, -- taliban does, it's what the chinese government does. that is not who we are in the united states of america. and, finally, we must repeal the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force immediately. americans strongly reject president trump's deliberate and escalatory action against iran. they do so not just because it is wrong but they do not want to

get embroiled into another costly war in the middle east without end. a poll last week shows that americans, by more than two to one, say that the killing of general soleimani, has made the united states lass safe. sad -- less safe. sadly, they are right. in passing senator kaine's resolution, this body has a chance to reclaim our founders' vision for the role of congress. we are the direct representatives of the american people. congress must express the will of the people to determine when, where, and against whom our country will go against war. with we cannot allow trump to start a war all on his own. i thank senator kaine for his leadership on this resolution. i call upon all of my colleagues here on the senate floor to support. thank you, mr. president. i yield he back. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: what is the business now before the senate?

the presiding officer: the pending question is h.r. 5430, the usmca bill. mr. wyden: thank you very much, mr. president. this afternoon the finance committee is kicking off this debate. i'll have some remarks and then the distinguished chairman of the committee, senator grassley will have some remarks, senator brown, who has played such a key role in the enforcement issues will follow, and i'm glad we are getting on this debate. there is a lot to say about this topic, and i want to talk first about how the new native got to -- nafta got to this point. in the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate trump said he was going to pull the united states out of nafta. he said, and i quote, this is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere but certainly

ever signed in this country, unquote. as president, donald trump went a different direction. after negotiation with -- negotiating with canada and mexico, the trump administration announced a deal in 2018 that actually doubled down on several key mistakes of the original nafta. the new nafta the trump administration came up with was way, way too weak on enforcement of the trade laws. and here in the senate, we democrats said it wasn't good enough, not even close to get through the congress, so we got down to work and we fixed it. the bill the senate has now come to be considering is the end product of all that work. this legislation is now the first real measure of certainty

and predictability on the crucial issue of trade that american workers and our businesses and families have. it's the first real measure of certainty and predictability since the beginning of the trump administration. it now has the strongest trade enforcement system ever written into a trade agreement, and there are significant new resources put into protecting american workers. unfortunately there has been an effort by a few on the other side to strip the crucial enforcement resources for forcing the rights of workers and protecting the environment. there's been an effort to take it out. now it is masquerading under a

whole lot of procedural lingo, but it's really a trojan horse to go back to business as usual with weak enforcement of trade laws that doesn't get the job done. over the last week -- and i see the distinguished chairman of the committee here -- these procedural gimmicks have been opposed by the chairman and myself, and i want to thank the chairman this afternoon for doing so. for decades there's been a lot of happy talk in washington about enforcing trade laws, but the government just moved too slowly and did too little to protect american workers when trade came after their jobs. you'd have workers and businesses who would have to

wait for years for the crackdown on the rip-off artists and often it was too late. workers laid off, factories shuttered, communities left without a beating economic heart. the original nafta was a part of the problem. it made strong enforcement almost impossible and was particularly a problem with labor rights in mexico. the same governments that allowed corporations to undercut american jobs by paying rock-bottom wages and abusing rights in mexico had the power to actually block our country from fighting back for the workers. so it was a head scratcher, and the trump administration proposed essentially a new nafta that kept the old broken nafta enforcement system. it ought to have been the first part of the original nafta that they threw in the trash can. but sure enough in 2018 the trump administration agreed to

language on trade enforcement that really didn't enforce anything. so senator brown, who has fought for years for tough trade law enforcement, said we're going to get together, we're going to change this. we put together a proposal that makes the united states enforcement system faster, tougher, and directly responsive to american workers and businesses that are targeted by the trade cheats. our approach puts trade enforcement boots on the ground to identify when factories in mexico break the labor standards we should insist on. it will be a lot easier to penalize the violators and protect the jobs they threaten to undercut. senator brown and i worked with our colleagues, democratic colleagues on the finance committee. but we talked to plenty of republicans as well. we took our ideas to the house leadership. we got their input and support.

we told the trump administration that tough enforcement with what has come to be known as the brown-wyden proposal was going to be a prerequisite to getting the new nafta through congress. as i said, i think this is the toughest labor enforcement measure that our country has seen and is a big reason why the afl-cio has endorsed the bill. when you combine this all-in approach to enforcement with significant new standards on labor and environmental protection, you also get the benefit of beginning to stop the race to the bottom. you raise other countries to the standards set by our country instead of forcing american workers to compete in a game that's rigged against them. these have been core democratic trade policies for a long time. commitments on labor and the environment weren't a part of

the original nafta. those issues were just pushed aside into what was essentially called a side letter. they were the trade policy equivalent of a pinky swear and about as easy to enforce. now they're going to be at the heart of an agreement. the united states will have more power than ever to hold mexico and canada to the commitments made in this legislation. on technology and digital trade, something that i put an enormous amount of my time into, the new nafta redefines the trade policy will be about. digital trade wasn't even a part of the original nafta because it by and large didn't exist. smartphones were science fiction. the internet was still years away. senator grassley has heard me say this many times. the internet was years away from

becoming the shipping lane of the 21st century. the problem has been our trade laws were still stuck in the beta max mind-set. technology and digital trade are obviously at the core of a modern economy. they account for millions of good-paying jobs. they're woven into every major american industry you can think of. health care, education, manufacturing, agriculture, the list goes on. so when the united states fights for strong rules on digital trade, it's fighting to protect red, white, and blue jobs. that's why the new nafta helps to protect our intellectual property and prevent shakedowns of american businesses for their valuable ideas. it also includes something that i felt very strongly about, and that is establish u.s. law that protects small technology entrepreneurs who want to build

successful lasting businesses in a field that is now dominated by just a few goliaths. it's long past time for the united states to bring its trade policy into the modern digital world. getting smart digital trade rules on the books is not just about boosting exports. what the internet looks like in 10, 20, 50 years is going to be an open question. will it be an open venue for communication among people around the world or will world governments follow the lead of china, russia, turkey, and iran? because what they're talking about could fracture the internet around national borders. will the internet be a platform for free speech or will chinese officials and corporations find new ways to reach across the ocean and trample on the rights of the american people? these are just a few of the

important questions the united states will have to confront when it comes to technology. in my view, locking in digital trade rules that protect our jobs, promote free speech and commerce online is a good place to start. labor rights, environmental protection, rules on technology, and digital trade, aggressive enforcement to protect american workers, these are all areas where there has been significant improvement in the new nafta. i call this trade done right. my state, along with senator grassley's, is so dependent on trade. one out of four jobs in oregon revolves around international trade. they often pay better than do the non-trade jobs because they have a higher value-added component. and most of them are small businesses, and they export. agriculture is a big part of our economy. the new nafta will put more of

our wine on shelves outside the united states. it will increase dairy exports. it will end unfair practices that discriminate against american-grown wheat. oregon companies that sell services like apps and engineering plans to customers overseas will have new protections under the digital trade rules. and it will help our manufacturers because the new nafta raises the bar and includes those protections of labor rights i've described. there are a lot of members to thank who pitched in. we're going to hear from a number of them on the floor, and i'm going to thank them before we wrap up. and i'll just close with this. the last few years have delivered one trade gut punch after another to our farmers and our shippers and our manufacturers and our exporters. the administration has driven

away traditional economic allies. a lot of manufacturers are hurting. farm bankruptcies have surged. foreign markets are more closed off, many of them to american exports, than they were before the trump administration began. with this legislation, we have an opportunity to begin -- and i want to underline that -- to begin to change that. i particularly want to thank senator brown for his laser focus of leadership on the issue of enforcement. i thank senator cantwell who probably will speak on this issue soon, has done a particularly good job about trying to build an infrastructure for enforcing our trade laws. and i think it's only appropriate to have a special senate shoutout for ambassador lighthizer who has been straight with members of our committee. and i know the chairman will

speak on next. and i call him the hardest-working man in the trade agreement debate. i support this bill. i hope my colleagues will do it. i know the chairman, his remarks, then senator brown will be here, other colleagues will be here. and i know chairman grassley is glad we're getting at this. i share his view. and we've got plenty to do on health care and other issues, and i look forward to working with them. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the president pro tempore. mr. grassley: before i start my remarks, i think it's important for all senators to know that when there were negotiations going on between the white house and the democrats in the house of representatives, one of the really sticking points was enforcement. and i thinkesque expects -- and

i thinkesque expects the trade agreement to be enforced but a lot more had to be done than what was originally agreed to when the agreement was signed. and i think i would want to recognize senator wyden and senator brown becausing -- because months before, maybe even years before -- i don't want to take away from how hard they were working on some ways of improving enforcement, but at least they had an idea out there that was sellable or saleable to both sides. and i don't know whether it was 100% or 90% or 80% that was incorporated in this bill, but they're laying that groundwork was the basis for getting an agreement between the white house and the house of

representatives so we can move this to the point where the senate is going to pass it tomorrow, i hope. so i thank the senator. senator brown is not here, but maybe you can tell him i said thank you. it's said that good things come to those who wait. others say that it's better late than never. either way, we can agree that this day has been a long time coming. with the passage of the united states-mexico-canada agreement by what will be an overwhelming margin here in the united states senate, america's economy will continue to thrive and drive prosperity for hardworking american farmers, workers, and taxpayers all across our economy.

you've heard the old saying, a rising tide lifts all boats. the new nafta bill that we're working on puts a bigger oar in the water for our trilateral trade relationship with our northern and southern neighbors. it's important to point out that we wouldn't be here without the bold leadership and the determination of president trump. the president is doing exactly what he said he would do. so many people running for president run on a platform, but they don't stand on that platform. he ran on a platform of doing something about what he considered bad trade agreements. and, of course, he is standing on that platform.

undaunted by those who set to throw him out of office since day one, president trump forged ahead for the good of the american people. he forged ahead to update and improve nafta for americans. we heard during the campaign that it was the president's opinion that it was the worst agreement that's ever been made. now, i might not agree with that -- the extreme of that, but i do know, as senator wyden has pointed out, that there were a lot of things that weren't even negotiable 30 years ago when we first thought of nafta and at least an updating was needed to be done. now the president has ton more than -- done more than update. but as the president promised during his campaign, at the end of the day president trump

successfully steered this vital trade pack into the 21st century. he did so with a tireless and tenacious team of advisors, especially the leadership of the u.s. trade, secretary light ligr and i associate myself with the remarks and the description that senator wyden gave to bob lighthizer's heavy lift to get this job done because bob lighthizer worked in good faith to broker and fine-tune the usmca. mr. lighthizer built a strong and sweeping coalition to strengthen and expand markets for u.s. agriculture,

manufacturing, and service exports. mr. lighthizer built a broad and sweeping coalition to improve labor and environmental protections in a balanced fashion, and mr. lighthizer built a broad and sweeping coalition that ends up growing wages for our workers. and he ensured that all of this would be subject to strong enforcement which is the bedrock of any good trade agreement and it's that enforcement that he took good ideas from wyden and brown. unfortunately, these efforts that i just described to you became entangled in time-wasting partisan roadblock from the house of representatives. it's unfortunate for the american people, especially our farmers, ranchers, and workers that public policy making took a

backseat to a partisan obsession of impeaching the 45th president. that is a shame. the president is upholding his promise to put america and americans first. his message resonates with tens of millions of americans who want to restore the american dream for their children and grandchildren. these americans want the next generation to have the same opportunity to lay claim to the american dream that nine generations before, going back to the colonies, have built upon so each generation are live better than the preceding generation. that american dream is if you work hard and play by the rules, you can earn a good living, get ahead, and stay ahead. a big plank in president trump's

platform is fixing broken trade agreements, and usmca is not the first of it because he's worked with japan, he's worked with korea, and today we saw the signing of phase one of the chinese agreement so he's making great progress. the president's determined to stop america's farmers, manufacturers, workers, and -- workers and consumers from being taken for a ride. when it comes to unfair trade agreements, we're finding out now the buck stops with president trump. and i'm not sure three years ago i would have said that, but i think after three years and usmca, the chinese agreement, the korean agreement, the japanese agreement, and some other things he's done on trade,

he ought to wake everybody up that what he ran on in his platform he's carried out. now, with nafta, when it took effect 26 years ago this month, the digital economy and the commercialization of the internet didn't even exist. the usmca creates the first u.s.-free trade agreement with digital trade chapter. these important measures will help the $1.3 trillion u.s. digital economy to flourish and grow faster. it starts ef -- stops efforts from u.s. goods being ripped off. it provides for copy right and patent protections to uphold trade secrets and to secure data

rights so american ingenuity and innovation will drive economic growth, create jobs, drive up consumer choices, and drive down prices for goods and services our consumers need. the usmca levels the playing field for the u.s. auto industry by encouraging companies to use more north american content and higher wage labor. usmca also -- usmca also fixes enforcement flaws that hog tied nafta from keeping everyone accountable to their commitments. speaking of hogs, the new nafta is good news for american farmers and ranchers. and my state of iowa happens to benefit from this to a great extent because my state is the

nation's number one pork producer. in 2018, canada and mexico bought more than 40% of u.s. pork exports. these exports support 16,000 u.s. jobs. usmca preserves critical duty-free access to mexico and canada, and it removes unfair restrictions on u.s. farm and food products. for the first time ever u.s. eggs and dairy exports will be sold in canada. this is very good news. it means that an additional $227 million for dairy exports to canada and $50.6 million of exports into mexico. my home state of iowa is also number one egg producer in the country. usmca will increase u.s. exports

of poultry and eggs to canada by $207 million. it also addresses restrictions that kept u.s. wheat and wine out of canada. i'd particularly like to thank the former iowa governor and previous agriculture secretary tom vilsack because as the leading democrat in the state of iowa he set aside partisan motives embraced by other members of his party to work together with me, senator ernst, and governor reynolds to champion usmca. according to the u.s. international trade commission, the usmca will raise real g.d.p. by more than $68 billion and usmca will create nearly 176,000 jobs. so all told the trade pac is

forecasts to boost farm and food exports by at least $2.1 billion. considering the slump in the farm economy, it's really shameful that passage of the usmca was stalled for over a year and nearly derailed by a partisan agenda, including the impeachment. under the trump economy, the united states is enjoying the longest economic expansion in u.s. history. ratification of the usmca will help america's economic enenfire on all -- engine fire on all cylinders and refuel prosperity in rural america. now, if you will remember, i mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, passage of usmca is better late than never. and while i'm looking forward, i'd also like to take this

opportunity to call on canada to quickly ratify the agreement. now that mexico has ratified and the united states will soon be done with our ratification, all eyes will be on canada to get the job done quickly so we can all work together to implement this agreement. and i don't have any doubt that canada's going to do that because i had opportunities earlier last year several times to visit with the canadian foreign minister and she was very certain that they would be passing this. so let's not delay people's business on other important matters before us, such as drug pricing and retirement and pension legislation that would provide peace of mind for americans, for their health

care, and for financial security. i yield the floor. i guess i'll suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: