With less than nine voting days left in Congress, U.S. Representative for Iowa’s Third District Cindy Axne (D) has written to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer urging action on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Axne says the House Trade Working Group has been working with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer since June on the agreement, with the most recent outstanding issues regarding labor enforcement mechanisms and intellectual property rights for pharmaceuticals. Axne says she wants an agreement that will strengthen oversight standards so foreign companies don’t undercut U.S. jobs and wages, and help reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Iowans, “I want to move this agenda forward and I’ve been speaking on it on the House floor, I’ve sat down with Speaker Pelosi and urged my colleagues in caucus. I’ve voiced my concerns to the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) President (Richard) Trumka directly in order to get this deal done right and also quickly. So I just want to make sure that we get this done. It’s important for it to be done right, but it’s also important that the agreement’s finalized timely so we can provide some certainties to our farmers.”

Axne adds that since Iowa is the second largest agricultural exporting state in the country, modernizing the trade agreement with our closest neighbors is critical to ensuring market stability for Iowans. The U.S. Congressional session is set to end on December 20th.