Mar 22, 2019 — Congresswoman Elise Stefanik visited the manufacturing facility of an office supplies company in Ogdensburg yesterday to meet with local government officials and business leaders.

Forklifts, pallets, scaffolds, and workers crowded the bustling ACCO Brands factory as the company’s site manager gave Stefnik a tour.

“Thank you so much for the tour today. Thanks for welcoming us here, and thanks for doing such a great job with such a large employer in St. Lawrence County,” Stefanik said to ACCO's site manager Kyle Foster.

A roundtable was planned for after the tour, but as news broke of a major deal to save hundreds of jobs in Massena, the crowd thinned. But even as several local officials left, Stefanik remained in Ogdensburg to talk about her priorities.

One of them dominated: Passing in congress the redesigned North American Free Trade Agreement, or USMCA.

“We are tied into the Canadian Economy. I represent a huge swath of the New York–Canadian border, and as you hear from many of the manufacturers and employers, much of their business depends upon that cross-border relationship,” Stefanik said.

The new trade deal has already been signed by each of the tree countries’ executives, but it still requires congressional approval. Congress does not have a deadline to pass the deal, but the president has threatened to withdraw from the current agreement to force congress to pass it.

If he does that, Congress would get a six-month window to either approve the new deal or lose it altogether. Stefanik hopes they will pass it.

“This is a new Congress. When we consider that Canada is our largest trading partner, I hope that my colleagues across the aisle will see this as an opportunity to modernize NAFTA, to bring it into the 21st century and that we can come together in a bipartisan basis,” Stefanik said.

Those at the table agreed with Stefanik. One executive said she imports raw material for her business from both Mexico and Canada. The congresswoman also mentioned infrastructure as one of her priorities, including repairing the Ogdensburg-Prescott bridge.  

Other items in her list of priorities included attracting talent to the North Country to expand the tax base and ensuring technical skills and vocational education is available for young people.