On January 25, 2011, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. The focus of the hearing is on Congressional consideration of the pending trade agreements and the benefits these agreements will bring to U.S. businesses, farmers, workers, consumers, and the U.S. economy. The hearing will also explore developments with each of these countries that have occurred since the trade agreements were concluded. Written comments are due by February 8, 2011.
The following are highlights of the trade-related Executive Communications sent to Congress from December 29, 2010 to January 12, 2011:
On January 14, 2011, Representative Michaud (D), Chairman of the House Trade Working Group, announced that he and Representative McCotter (R) are sending a bipartisan letter to the President urging him to convey to Chinese President Hu that China’s consistent violations of international trade law will no longer be tolerated.
On January 12, 2011, the House agreed to H. Res. 33, a resolution naming members to the House Committees on Agriculture, Armed Services, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Rules, and Transportation and Infrastructure.
On January 12, 2011, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
On January 11, 2011, the President sent a letter to Congress in which he determines and reports that suspension, for 6 months beyond February 1, 2011, of the right to bring an action under Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-114), is necessary to the national interests of the U.S. and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba.
The House Agriculture Committee has issued a press release announcing that the House has formally elected Representative Lucas (R) as the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee for the 112th Congress. In the press release, Chairman Lucas states that “we must implement the three pending free trade agreements with Korea, Panama, and Colombia. And, we must encourage the administration to act on opening up other trade opportunities overseas for our farmers and ranchers. Foreign markets are critical to the economic viability of rural America.”
On January 5, 2011, the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 5, the House Rules for the 112th Congress. H. Res. 5 adopts the Rules of 111th Congress, as amended by H. Res. 5, as the Rules for the 112th Congress.
During the January 7, 2011 House debate of the rule for consideration of H.R. 2, a bill to repeal last year’s health care bill, Representative Slaughter (D) and others made an unsuccessful attempt to allow the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (H.R. 2378), the China currency bill from the 111th Congress, to be considered as an amendment.
The House Ways and Means Committee announced that it has postponed its organization meeting scheduled for January 12, 2011. According to Chairman Camp, this will allow Congress to conduct the necessary work with respect to the recent events in Arizona.