DURYEA - United States Vice President Mike Pence on Monday visited a Duryea glass manufacturing facility to tout a Trump administration-backed trade deal and urged Northeast Pennsylvania residents to pressure Democrats in Congress to pass the deal.

He also took a jab at his predecessor and Democrat presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who earlier in the day criticized Trump's support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement by saying "Pennsylvanians will not be fooled."

Pence said Biden was right.

"Joe, Pennsylvanians will not be fooled. They know the USMCA is a win for Pennsylvania and a win for America. It's time you got on board," Pence said.

Pence further blasted Biden, saying during his time as vice president under Barack Obama, the country lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs that the Obama administration claimed would never come back.

Manufacturers like Schott Advanced Optics are booming under the Trump administration, Pence said, inviting people to apply for many open positions at the company, which is celebrating 50 years in business at the Duryea location.

Pence said the administration has created 500,000 new manufacturing jobs in the last three years.

Passage of the USMCA in congress will only continue the progress, Pence said.

The vice president asked Northeast Pennsylvania residents to remind Biden of that when he visits the area over the next two days.

"If you bump into a familiar face the next few days, tell Joe the United States and Pennsylvania need the USMCA," Pence said.

Pence's next target was U.S. Rep Matt Cartwright, a Democrat from Moosic.

"Turn up the heat on Congressman Matt Cartwright," Pence urged.

Pence has been traveling the country to tout the USMCA in districts won by Trump in 2016, but have a Democratic member of congress, like Cartwright's 8th district.

The new trade deal has been "languishing" for a year on the desk of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Pence said.

The USMCA, which has been approved by Trump and the leader of Mexico and Canada, replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico's legislature has approved the deal, but it still needs to be ratified by the legislatures of the United States and Canada.

Pence said Trump's tough negotiations led to the other country's leaders agreeing to the deal, which supporters say puts the United States on a level playing field in trade with the counties, such as putting quotas on auto manufacturing in those countries.

"The man who wrote ‘The Art of The Deal' drove a hard bargain," Pence said.

The several hundred people in the audience, mostly Schott workers, seemed supportive of the vice president's message, frequently applauding.

Pence criticized Obama for once saying he'd need a "magic wand" to bring back lost manufacturing jobs.

"We didn't need a magic wand. We needed President Donald Trump in the White House," Pence said.

Prior to Pence, the audience heard from U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Schott's president and CEO, the head of National Association of Manufacturers, and Schott's local plant manager.

Ross said USMCA is way better deal than NAFTA.

"USMCA fixes a badly flawed deal," Ross said.

Schott produces advanced glass used in the space program, military, automobile production, the medical field, and other industries.

Pence called Schott a vital America company that even manufactured components used in the moon landing in 1969.

"I'm here today to celebrate the success of this company and thank you," Pence said.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055

@cvbobkal