Mr. Richard Neal:

I thank the Senator. We understand fully that many of the antecedents of American democracy come from the UK and Europe.

We value the relationship we have had. It has indeed been an enduring relationship that has existed between the United States and the United Kingdom, and simultaneously, we have understood that there is a broader relationship that also exists between the United States and Europe. I have suggested that I would do that in a public forum, any place and any time that a bilateral trade relationship with the United States and the UK is desirable - it would be good for both sides - but not at the expense of jeopardising the Good Friday Agreement. I think, and I will reiterate what I said earlier, the Border issue was invented. The Border issue never should have reached that vantage point in the discussion and the debate. There is the argument that all sides, Leave and Remain, offered to the people of the UK. In the aftermath of an election, there is always some hand-wringing that takes place, but it has been four-and-a-half years since that referendum passed and I think that it is up to them to get themselves through it, just as they got themselves into it. We do not wish to have anything but a harmonious and good relationship with the UK and, at the same time, no threat to what used to be one of our esteemed foreign policy accomplishments, the Good Friday Agreement.