Flake: Trade between U.S. and Mexico too important to allow a wall
Jun 20, 2016, 5:34 AM
FILE - In this July 23, 2015, file photo, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., arrives before Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew, arrive to testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Flake, the lone Republican senator considering support for the Iran nuclear deal, announced plans to vote no on Aug. 15, dealing a significant blow to the White House’s efforts to garner bipartisan backing for the controversial accord. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
One Arizona senator says the U.S.-Mexico trade is too important to allow a wall on the border.
Jeff Flake recently told an economic conference Arizona and Mexico did $17-billion dollars’ worth of business last year alone. The two countries share information on other threats, too.
“Our relationship with Mexico is about more than just trade,” he said. “Transportation issues, natural resource management, and security threats are just some of the fronts along which we cooperate.”
Flake also said he has confirmed – after a months’-long effort – an ambassador to Mexico.
“As you may know, that top diplomatic post remained vacant for more than nine months, despite the fact that the President had put forward an eminently qualified nominee in Roberta Jacobson,” Flake said. “Fortunately, and thanks to the efforts of a bipartisan coalition of like-minded colleagues, we were finally able to secure Ambassador Jacobson’s confirmation on April 28th.”
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has said he’ll make Mexico pay for a border wall between the two countries.
