Senate Barely Backs TPA Procedural Motion, Aims to Polish Off Trade This Week
The Senate squeaked through a procedural motion on standalone Trade Promotion Authority on June 23 with 60 votes in favor and 37 opposed. The move paves the way for final passage of the legislation the following day, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on the Senate floor before the TPA vote. Senate passage of the underlying TPA bill will allow leadership to deliver that legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature after weeks of political wrangling.
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Industry representatives immediately praised the procedural approval. “This is more than just another routine procedural vote; this is a necessary step toward ensuring a free and open global economy where trade barriers are a thing of the past," said National Retail Federation lobbyist David French in a statement. "Opening up international markets will be a legacy not only for President Obama but for every member of Congress who voted in favor of this measure. We now call on senators to pass TPA in the final vote.” Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., opposed the vote, despite voting for the TPA package with Trade Adjustment Assistance in late May (see 1505260014).
The Senate is also preparing to vote on the same procedural motion, called cloture, on June 24 for an expanded preference package, and lawmakers could rally to pass that bill and send it back to the House on June 25, McConnell said. The House is ready to pass that legislation this week in order to send it to Obama, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on June 23.
McConnell maneuvered in recent days to tack a trade remedy bill onto the preferences package, which now also includes Trade Adjustment Assistance (see 1506220012). "The process this week is clear," said McConnell in remarks on the Senate floor on June 22. "We will vote on TPA and then we will vote on TAA." The underlying preference bill is comprised of renewals for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Generalized System of Preferences and two Haiti tariff preference level programs.
Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged lawmakers to rally behind the plan. Wyden said Democrats urged McConnell to tack the trade remedy bill, named the Leveling the Playing Field Act, onto preferences as a "sign of good faith." The legislation, which aims to strengthen antidumping enforcement, emerged this Congress in April (see 1504080013). "I plan to advance the continued advancement of the trade package," said Wyden in a June 22 press release.
Speaking on the Senate floor before the vote, Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, applauded progress on trade legislation, despite weeks of obstruction. “Throughout this process, we’ve done all we can within reason to accommodate the concerns of Senators,” said Hatch. “I am very appreciative of all the support we’ve received from members on both sides of the aisle. We couldn’t have gotten this far without that support.”
Private-sector trade supporters and opponents made last-ditch efforts to influence lawmaker positions in the hours leading up the Senate floor on June 23. The Trade Benefits America coalition, comprised mostly of large companies and industry associations, pushed Senators to back the standalone TPA bill in a letter to those lawmakers on June 22. The AFL-CIO, the network of unions that has lashed out at Democratic supporters of TPA over recent months, urged lawmakers to defeat the bill, saying it fails to improve “transparency, public participation and congressional oversight.”