{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://spano.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2353", "Spano Supports USMCA as Huge Economic Victory", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Ross Spano", "S001210", "spano.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Ross Spano (Florida-15) released the following statement regarding H.R. 5430, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act.\r\nToday, I voted in favor of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal, which will modernize our trading relationship with Mexico and Canada for the first time in 24 years. This trade agreement is a huge win for our economy as it has the potential to create over 170,000 new jobs and produce over $60 billion in new economic activity. While this agreement lacked a specific provision that I fought for to protect our strawberry growers, I am confident the Administration will join me to support this industry in the future. I will continue to work with the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure our farmers can compete on a level playing field with growers abroad.\r\nFlorida's year-round warm weather allows its farmers to be the nation's principal produce suppliers during the winter while northern and western growers are active during warmer seasons. Mexico, however, subsidizes their own winter growers, allowing them to import vast quantities of below-cost produce into the United States and drive American farmers out of business. Across the country, farms are reducing or ceasing production, while Florida's tomato, bell pepper, blueberry, and strawberry industries have all been severely impacted. If this continues, the majority, if not all, of Plant City's strawberry production will be wiped out.\r\nUSMCA has been a priority issue for Rep. Spano from the moment he took office. Negotiations began in earnest in March when he hosted U.S. Chief Agricultural Ambassador Gregg Doud during the 2019 Plant City Strawberry Festival. Rep. Spano has since been heavily engaged with the Florida Congressional Delegation, Sen. Marco Rubio, and the U.S. Trade Representative on behalf of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, the Florida Farm Bureau, and District 15 growers.\r\nUSMCA is just the first step, said Rep. Spano. My constituents and Florida's strawberry farmers come first. They've provided for us year-round and I will continue to fight for them year-round. \r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://spano.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2353"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.927854958921671, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}