The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled for April 4-9, 2011:
The following hearings, markups, or meetings are scheduled for April 5, 2011:
On April 4, 2011, the following trade-related bills were introduced:
On April 4, 2011, the White House invited House Speaker Boehner (R), Senate Majority Leader Reid (D), and the Chairs of the Senate and House appropriations committees Senator Inouye (D) and Representative Rogers (R) to a meeting on April 5, 2011 to discuss the fiscal year 2011 funding bill and urge a final agreement, as the latest continuing resolution to keep the government funded expires on April 8, 2011.
On March 31, 2011, Senator Brown (D) and two co-sponsors1 introduced S. 708, the Trade Enforcement Priorities Act of 2011, a bill to give the federal government more authority to address trade barriers that undermine U.S. workers and domestic manufacturing by reinstating “Super 301” authority.
On April 1, 2011, the following trade-related bills were introduced:
On March 30, Senator Boxer (D), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee joined Representative Mica (R), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, and the Mayor of Mesa, Arizona Scott Smith, in expressing support for the upcoming transportation bill.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Smith (R) and Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Grassley (R) sent a letter on March 28 to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano regarding the implementation and future of REAL ID, on which DHS has pushed back the deadline by 20 months to January 15, 2013 and of which Secretary Napolitano has once again called for repeal. Among other things, Smith states that "The Administration should stop trying to undercut REAL ID and instead support the full implementation of this critical national security law."
On April 1, 2011, the Representative King (R), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Representative Miller (R), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, and eight other Committee Republicans called on President Obama to extend the current deployment of 1,200 National Guard soldiers along the Southwest border as the Department of Homeland Security continues to recruit and train additional Customs and Border Protection Officers and Border Patrol Agents. The current deployment began September 1, 2010 and is set to end on June 30.
On April 1, 2011, the House passed H.R. 658, the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011. H.R. 658 would authorize appropriations for the Federal Aviation Administration for fiscal years 2011 through 2014 and streamline programs. The measure also contains a provision specific to lithium batteries.