Eagle Pass Delegation Attends NAFTA Luncheon

(Press Release) The City of Eagle Pass was represented at the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) Luncheon hosted by the Free Trade Alliance and U.S. Congressmen Will Hurd and Henry Cuellar in San Antonio, TX on Friday July 21, 2017. Eagle Pass and Laredo were the only two border cities represented at this important luncheon.

Eagle Pass representatives included Councilmen Rudy Villalpando and Luis Sifuentes, City Manager Art Rodriguez, Assistant City Manager Ivan Morua, BEDC Business & Industry Sub-Committee Chairman Hector Cerna, EMC Strategy Group Leadership Janice and Ernie Gonzalez, and EMC Government Relations Fellow Brianna Chapa.

The NAFTA Luncheon received statewide attention and served as an important step forward as the federal government moves to renegotiate NAFTA. During the 2016 Presidential Election, then candidate Donald Trump, made ending and renegotiating the terms of NAFTA one of his top priorities. Now, in this sixth month of the new administration, President Trump has found strong bipartisan resistance to end NAFTA. Both U.S. Senators from Texas, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and nearly the entire 36-member Texas Congressional Delegation have issued letters in support of NAFTA. Congressional leaders on the fence have taken the public stance of “mend, don’t end it” approach.

Texas border cities from El Paso to Brownsville have strongly challenged the administration to back off any discussion of terminating the trade pact with Mexico and Canada. NAFTA was signed in 1994 in San Antonio, and has created tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs and contributed billions to border communities. Those opposed to NAFTA have argued that many manufacturing jobs were lost by U.S. workers and were moved south of the Rio Grande. Supporters of NAFTA have argued that American consumers have benefited significantly by having greater access to low cost products at retail stores and American auto-dealerships across the United States.

Eagle Pass was recognized at the luncheon by both Congressmen Hurd and Cuellar, who stated that it was important that the city was represented.

“I’m glad that City Manager Art Rodriguez encouraged our participation in this important luncheon, especially because Eagle Pass has two ports of entry,” said Councilman Rudy Villalpando. “We need to keep the conversation going with our Congressional leaders and our U.S. Senators to remind them that we need their support to grow our local and regional economy,” said Councilman Luis Sifuentes.

EMC Strategy Group, which is providing business & economic development and state and federal lobbying services, organized the Eagle Pass delegation and lobbied the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in Washington just a few weeks ago in support of greater access to federal resources for business & economic development.

For more information, please contact ernie.gonzalez@emcstrategygroup.com.