Senate Democrats Using Mining Benefits Bill as Leverage for USTR Nominee
Senate Democrats are working with GOP counterparts to negotiate a waiver to allow the confirmation of U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer in exchange for Republican support for the Miners Protection Act, a spokesman for Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., confirmed…
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in an email. Lighthizer needs the waiver because he represented the Brazilian Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s Sugar and Alcohol Institute in bilateral discussions with the U.S. to resolve ethanol trade disputes in 1985, and legal representations of foreign governments in trade discussions are prohibited by statute (see 1701250061) for anyone serving as USTR. Introduced by Manchin on Jan. 17, the Miners Protection Act would guarantee health care and pension funding for retired coal miners and widows. The offices of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the Senate Finance Committee didn’t immediately comment.