USMCA, the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement, is vitally important to the Texas economy and Congressman Marc Veasey stressed his desire to vote for it during a meeting with the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Advisory Committee on Friday, November 1, 2019. He said it would be difficult for him to vote “Yes” today because of the absence of labor protections and their enforcement mechanisms.

Congressman Veasey did not get into the details of what was missing. It has been widely reported that the mechanism for enforcing NAFTA had the fatal flaw that one country could block the process if it chose. The United States used this loophole to keep Mexico from challenging the US over sugar policy. USMCA does not close this loophole.  Democrats in Congress want this loophole closed.

Asked about immigration and border security, Congressman Veasey expressed support for using technology to secure the border. He pointed out that most of the drugs, human trafficking and applications for asylum occur at ports of entry, not in between.  He expressed the opinion that building a physical wall is not cost-effective nor is it the best way to accomplish the objective.

A questioner said one of the reasons Texas has not expanded Medicaid to cover an additional 1.5 million uninsured people is the possibility of the federal government pulling back from the 90% federal funding for expansion. Congressman Veasey said that he has no reason to believe the current federal match will change in the future.

Congressman Veasey serves on the Small Business Committee and on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Previously he served on the Armed Services Committee.