{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=DC05C3F8-F3AC-4F5F-AF85-BB6D0C7829B3", "COCHRAN, WICKER PRESSURE OBAMA ON CANADIAN SOFTWOOD LUMBER EXPORTS", "2016-10-25", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Thad Cochran", "C000567", "www.cochran.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are among a bipartisan group of Senators pressuring the Obama administration to make progress with Canada on a new softwood lumber agreement to protect U.S. timber jobs and communities.Cochran and Wicker signed a letter to President Obama that encourages the administration to remain firm in negotiations to reach an agreement that addresses the effects of subsidized Canadian lumber exports to the United States.\u00a0 The Magnolia State lawmakers signed the letter to signal the importance of not allowing subsidized exports to diminish the $1.1 billion forestry industry in Mississippi.\u201cThe overall health of the American timber industry has direct effect on mills and forestry jobs in Mississippi.\u00a0 Any agreement that does not adequately address the government subsidies granted by Canada would be unfair to our workers and rural communities,\u201d Cochran said.\u201cA fair trade agreement between Canada and the United States is critical to the lumber industry in Mississippi,\u201d Wicker said.\u00a0 \u201cThe Administration needs to negotiate a deal that protects American jobs from being undercut by subsidies that help prop up their Canadian competition.\u201dForest products produced on Mississippi\u2019s 19.7 million acres of forestland generated $1.16 billion in 2015, an increase of $138 million over the preceding year, according to the Mississippi State University Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.The letter, led by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), stresses that a new agreement should be consistent with a joint statement signed by the President and Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau in June.\u00a0 The Senators\u2019 letter is critical of reluctance by Canadian negotiators to adhere to the goals of the joint statement.\u201cHundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs and thousands of U.S. rural communities depend on fairness in trade in softwood lumber.\u00a0 That is why we will continue to urge you, and any future Administration, to seek a fair, effective, and sustainable agreement with Canada on softwood lumber trade, and in the absence of such an agreement, to fully enforce U.S. trade laws,\u201d the Senators wrote.The letter signed by 25 Senators is available here and below.\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://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=DC05C3F8-F3AC-4F5F-AF85-BB6D0C7829B3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0167090222239494, "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"}