<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">A few obvious talking points as corporate trade advocates double down on their “impeachment = NAFTA 2.0” argument...</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><ul class="MailOutline"><li class="">The idea that voters angry at their Member of Congress for supporting impeachment are suddenly going to give them a pass on that in exchange for support NAFTA 2.0 is one of the stupidest inside-the-beltway narratives in recent memory. There is no such voter.</li></ul><div class=""><br class=""></div><ul class="MailOutline"><li class="">A real NAFTA replacement could have been enacted a year ago, if President Trump were willing to make the changes needed to protect jobs and to remove new language rigging the deal for Big Pharma. </li></ul><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><ul class="MailOutline"><li class="">Democrats cannot rubber-stamp a rigged deal that fails to curtail outsourcing and that locks in high medicine prices. They’re right to keep pushing President Trump to deliver a real NAFTA replacement. In the meantime, Democrats can point to the 250 bills on gun violence, equal pay, immigration and more passed in the House that Republicans buried in the Senate.</li></ul></div><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div apple-content-edited="true" class="">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; " class=""><div class="">Arthur Stamoulis</div><div class="">Citizens Trade Campaign</div><div class="">(202) 494-8826</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div><div apple-content-edited="true" class=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><a href="https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/finance-economy/472912-falling-impeachment-support-raises-pressure-for-democrats-on" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/finance-economy/472912-falling-impeachment-support-raises-pressure-for-democrats-on</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(44, 44, 44);" class="">Falling impeachment support raises pressure for Democrats on trade<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">By Niv Elis<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">12/04/2019</span></div><p class="p1" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">The drop in support for impeachment in the polls is increasing pressure on Democrats to strike a deal on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">House Democrats have been eager to prove that impeachment is not getting in the way of legislative progress, a point Republicans have repeatedly pressed.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">For months, Speaker <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/nancy-pelosi" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Nancy Pelosi</span></a></span> (D-Calif.) has insisted that House Democrats were working to get consensus on <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/donald-trump" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">President Trump</span></a></span>’s signature trade deal, which would update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">She has also been adamant that impeachment would not affect USMCA talks, or vice versa, and that the tracks are totally separate.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“They have nothing to do with each other,” she said as the impeachment process kicked off.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">But with the presidential election less than a year away, the political ramifications of the impeachment process are at the front of Democrats’ minds. Progress on a popular bipartisan issue could help assuage moderate voters.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“Polling always affects the politics,” said Democratic strategist Tim Lim, a partner at NEWCO Strategies.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Polling on impeachment has found that a majority of respondents support the process, but support has dropped from key groups of independents as public hearings got underway. An Emerson poll in November found 43 percent of voters overall supporting impeachment compared with 45 percent opposed. That represented a 6-point swing from the pollster’s survey in October.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span class="s2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">If that trend continues as the inquiry heads to the House Judiciary Committee this week, Democrats could become more mindful of notching a major bipartisan accomplishment.</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Republicans have repeatedly accused Democrats of playing politics with the USMCA, especially in the face of impeachment.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“House Democrats are continuing their three-year-long quest to impeach the president and continuing to obstruct urgent bipartisan legislation,” Senate Majority Leader <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/mitch-mcconnell" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Mitch McConnell</span></a></span> (R-Ky.) charged Tuesday, specifically mentioning the trade deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Pelosi, he said, “keeps offering the same empty rhetoric that’s no different than what she was saying 10 months ago.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Trump has also bashed Pelosi on impeachment, calling her “grossly incompetent” and accusing her of using it as a carrot for skeptical, centrist Democrats to whip votes on impeachment.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“She’s using USMCA to get the impeachment vote,” Trump said after the public hearings began.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Despite the hullabaloo, Democrats say progress has continued apace.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Ahead of Thanksgiving, they said they had finalized most of the issues in talks with the administration.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“We are within range of a substantially improved agreement for America’s workers. Now, we need to see our progress in writing from the Trade Representative for final review,” Pelosi said at the time.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Rep. <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/richard-neal" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Richard Neal</span></a></span> (D-Mass.), the head of the House Ways and Means Committee, continued negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/robert-bob-lighthizer" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Robert Lighthizer</span></a></span>, Trump’s point man on trade, over the holiday. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">On Saturday, Mexico’s top negotiator Jesús Seade said a deal could wrap up by the end of this week.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“If the amendments suggested are fine, are acceptable, are improvements, then there’s no reason why we should not be shaking hands next week,” he said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">After meeting with Trump on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/justin-trudeau" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Justin Trudeau</span></a></span> said he was “very, very hopeful that we’re going to have good news soon.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">But even as final details on enforcement, labor, environment and pharmaceuticals come together, Democrats must make the political decision of whether, how and when to finalize the deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Lim says there’s a simmering debate within the party over whether it makes political sense to hand Trump a victory going into 2020, especially one that will align so well with his “promises made, promises kept” reelection slogan.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“There’s a real source of strife and tension coming from it, which is ‘do Democrats want to give Trump a major legislative victory going into an election cycle,’ or ‘do we do the same thing Republicans did to President Obama,’ ” Lim said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Moving ahead on the deal could also create a high-profile, public fracture in the primary field of Democrats running for president, sowing disunity ahead of the election.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">In the 2016 race, for example, Sen. <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/bernie-sanders" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Bernie Sanders</span></a></span> (I-Vt.) came out strong against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade deal negotiated by then-President Obama. <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/hillary-clinton" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Hillary Clinton</span></a></span>, who had worked on the deal as secretary of State and had once called it the “gold standard” of trade deals, ended up distancing herself from the pact.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Trump, who campaigned on toughening up trade deals, scrapped it altogether when he took office.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Centrist Democrats who won Trump districts, helping their party take back the House in 2018, want to make sure they can deliver to their constituents. Many believe that if a deal isn’t wrapped up in the coming weeks, election-year politics will eliminate the possibility.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“We know that members of Congress are back in town with a lot on their plate, but we are at the point where the rubber meets the road on USMCA,” said former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), speaking in association with trade advocacy group Farmers for Free Trade.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“I know what these end-of-year sessions are like. Everything is a time crunch. But I also know that it’s now over a year since the agreement was signed and farmers want movement. If congressional leadership makes this a priority it can be accomplished quickly,” she added.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Sen. <span class="rollover-people"><a href="https://thehill.com/people/chuck-grassley" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">Chuck Grassley</span></a></span> (R-Iowa), who leads the Senate committee responsible for trade, sent a more urgent warning.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(43, 44, 48);" class="">“If a deal cannot be reached by the end of this week, I do not see how the USMCA can be ratified in the year we’re in,” he said on the Senate floor Tuesday.</span></p></div></div></body></html>