On March 21, the House of Representatives defeated efforts to force a vote on S. 1813, the bipartisan 2-year transportation bill approved by the Senate March 14. The House attempted to attach the Senate-passed bill to an unrelated bill up for approval, but that was defeated. On March 22, the House introduced H.R. 4239, the “Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012,” was introduced to continue funding at current levels from April 1 through June 30, 2012. Current highway funding expires on March 31.

On March 24, 2012, President Barack Obama urged the House of Representatives to pass the two-year transportation bill, S. 1813, which has already been approved by the Senate. Obama said a failure to pass the bill will allow construction sites and important transportation projects to go idle. He stated that the House must put aside partisan posturing to pay for crumbling roads and bridges. (See ITT’s Online Archives 12031508 for summary of Senate’s passage of S. 1813.) March 21 Congressional Record debate on transportation bill can be found here.

The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for March 20-21, 2012:

On March 20-21, 2012 the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:

On March 21, 20212 Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called on the House to pass S. 1813, a bill to reauthorize the Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for two years, which the Senate passed March 14, 2012. The bill, also known as Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), would maintain funding at current levels, indexed for inflation, among other things. Current highway funding expires on March 31, 2012.

On March 21, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski testified before the Senate Appropriations' Subcommittee on Homeland Security on CBP's work to secure and facilitate the flow of passengers into the U.S. He stated that CBP has taken a proactive management approach in addressing passenger processing issues and is constantly working in partnership with airport authorities, airlines, and the travel industry to identify new ways to more efficiently facilitate the entry process. CBP has also placed a great emphasis in targeting potential security and law enforcement threats prior to their arrival in the U.S., and specifically prior to boarding U.S. bound flights, through its Pre-Departure Targeting Strategy. He also discussed CBP initiatives, such as SENTRI, FAST, NEXUS, Global Entry, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and the use of RFID technology, etc.

The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for March 20, 2012:

On March 20, 2012, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:

On February 29, 2012, Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) and Representative Janice Hahn (D-CA) hosted the inaugural event for the bipartisan Congressional Ports, Opportunity Renewal, Trade and Security (PORTS) Caucus. The mission of the PORTS Caucus is to promote the importance of U.S. ports to the nation’s economy and the need to secure them by promoting dialogue and coordination between Congress, the Administration and relevant federal agencies, as well as important industry officials. The Caucus was formed in October 2011 by Representatives Poe and Hahn and currently includes 42 members representing 19 states and two territories. The inaugural event featured a “Ports 101” presentation made by guest speaker Kurt Nagle, President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).

Senator Sherrod (D-OH) and 187 other Senators and Representatives sent a letter to President Obama calling for more aggressive enforcement against China's trade actions and subsidies, which they say hurt U.S. auto parts businesses. According to Sherrod, the U.S. deficit with China on auto parts trade has increased nearly tenfold since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 - from $1.03 billion to $9.95 billion in 2011. The letter urges the President to use the recently established Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC) to address China's predatory policies in auto parts.