{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-meets-with-trump-trade-chief-to-urge-missouri-agriculture-protectionstatement", "McCaskill Meets with Trump Trade Chief to Urge Missouri Agriculture Protection—Statement", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "McCaskill Meets with Trump Trade Chief to Urge Missouri Agriculture Protection\u2014Statement \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Senator, Finance Committee members sit down with U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer to warn of impact of North American Free Trade Agreement withdrawal on Missouri\u2019s crop and livestock sectors \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, December 7, 2017\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, along with fellow members of the Senate Finance Committee, met this week with President Trump\u2019s trade chief to discuss the importance of protecting Missouri\u2019s agriculture economy in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and released the following statement:\r\n\u201cOur trade deals need to be better, but I\u2019m really worried about Missouri agriculture, which is the backbone of our economy. Nothing the Trade Ambassador said reassured me. I\u2019m very concerned that Missouri agriculture is going to pay a big price for the trade policies of this Administration.\u201d\r\nMcCaskill, a longtime advocate for farmers and ranchers in Missouri, and recently joined her Republican colleagues in seeking protections for Missouri agriculture producers in NAFTA renegotiations, in a letter to Mr. Lighthizer. Last month she joined a bipartisan call along with fellow Missouri Senator Roy Blunt and led by Republican Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, urging the Trump Administration to conduct a robust economic analysis to evaluate how any changes to NAFTA would affect Missouri\u2019s crop and livestock sectors.\r\nThe Senators\u2019 wrote in their letter to the Administration that, \u201cU.S. is the world\u2019s top exporter of food and agricultural products and is an important economic driver that stimulates prosperity and jobs throughout rural America. According to USDA, every $1 in agricultural exports generates an additional $1.27 in economic activity, and every $1 billion in farm exports supports 8,000 jobs.\u201d\r\nSince NAFTA was enacted in 1993, Canada and Mexico have been Missouri\u2019s top export destinations and two of the top five importers of American agricultural products, including 28 percent of total American agricultural exports last year. And after sustained efforts by McCaskill, President Trump finalized agreements with China to allow Missouri\u2019s rice and beef producers to finally export their products to China.\r\nVisit mccaskill.senate.gov/rural to learn more about McCaskill's fight to protect rural Missouri.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 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.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-meets-with-trump-trade-chief-to-urge-missouri-agriculture-protectionstatement"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5344279818236828, "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"}