LISTEN to Senator Murray question
Secretary LaHood (Question starts at 34:30)
(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, at a hearing of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
strongly urged Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to solve the
trade dispute with Mexico when the United States and Mexico meet for an
official state visit later this month. LaHood told Murray that the Administration
continues to work on this issue, and they are “very close” to releasing a plan
that would end the tariffs.
Murray
had raised this with LaHood at
a hearing last month, and today she asked him if the administration had
made any progress toward resolving the issue since then. LaHood responded
by saying that he understands the devastating effects of the tariffs, and the
Administration has every intention of solving this problem as soon as possible.
Earlier
this week, Murray spoke
to the Mexican ambassador and urged him to end the tariffs that are hurting
farmers and families in Washington state. Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan told
Murray that President Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s planned on bringing
this issue up during his upcoming visit to Washington, D.C.
Senator
Murray’s question to Secretary LaHood:
“Mr.
Secretary, I want to ask one last question about an issue I brought up with you
the last time you were before this subcommittee: cross-border trucking with Mexico
and the devastating effect of Mexican tariffs on Washington state farmers.
“Back
in March, I urged you and the administration to move quickly to craft a plan to
resume cross- border trucking with Mexico in a way that would address the
safety concerns raised during the pilot and end the tariffs imposed by the
Mexican government.
“You
told this subcommittee that a resolution would be forthcoming ‘soon.’
“Mr.
Secretary—you should know that the effects of the Mexican tariffs have been
absolutely devastating to farmers and families in my home state of Washington
and across the country.
“The
tariffs undermine our farmers’ competitiveness—and they are killing jobs and
devastating communities.
“In
fact, in the two months since you last appeared before this subcommittee, the
ConAgra potato processing plant in Prosser, Washington shut down—eliminating
hundreds of good paying jobs.
“And
if we don’t address this problem soon, this will just be the beginning- thousands
more jobs in Washington state and across the country are in serious jeopardy of
being shipped outside our borders.
“I
sat down this week with the Mexican Ambassador to the United States because I
wanted to make sure he knew how harmful his country’s tariffs were to families
in Washington state.
“I
told him that I feel very strongly that Washington state farmers and families
shouldn’t be punished for a diplomatic dispute they had nothing to do with.
“And
he told me that Mexico’s president planned on bringing this issue up in
meetings with President Obama later this month.
“So
my question is—what can you tell me about the Administration’s progress toward
fixing this problem—and are you prepared to resolve this issue with Mexico
during the state visit later this month?”
English 
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