[CTC] Hatch Wants Amendment-Lite Markup of Fast-Track

[Mark Harrison]

CQ NEWS
April 21, 2015 - 4:38 p.m.
Hatch Wants Amendment-Lite Markup of Fast-Track
By Ellyn Ferguson, CQ Roll Call
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin G. Hatch<http://www.cq.com/person/493>, R-Utah, is going into the panel's Wednesday's markup of the Trade Promotion Authority legislation with a goal of defeating most amendments.
"We want this as clean as we can because we still have to get this through the House. Congressman Ryan, who has done tremendous work on this, has indicated he would like to do a clean bill," Hatch said, referring to House Ways and Means Chairman Paul D. Ryan<http://www.cq.com/person/523>, R-Wis.
Hatch told reporters Tuesday that there might be a committee vote on currency manipulation amendments if they are germane to the bill.
Sens. Rob Portman<http://www.cq.com/person/373>, R-Ohio, Debbie Stabenow<http://www.cq.com/person/247>, D-Mich., and Charles E. Schumer<http://www.cq.com/person/371>, D-N.Y., indicated they are likely to propose stronger provisions to the bill (S 995<http://www.cq.com/bill/114/S995>) on the practice of trading partners keeping currencies artificially low against the U.S. dollar to make exports cheaper and imports from the United States more expensive.
Schumer called the provisions, in the bill Hatch and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden<http://www.cq.com/person/406> of Oregon released on April 16, "weak tea" that would require U.S. negotiators to do very little in trade talks to crack down on currency manipulation.
Hatch told reporters that he plans to move the bill out of committee after the amendment process is complete. The 2014 version of the bill never made it to markup or the Senate floor.
Hatch, Wyden and Ryan unveiled the draft Trade Promotion Authority legislation last week. It includes negotiating objectives on currency manipulation, settlement of investor-state disputes, environment and labor laws, and reduction or elimination of trade and investment barriers that hurt small businesses. The authority would be good for three years with an automatic extension for an additional three years unless Congress adopted a resolution of disapproval for the extension.
The Finance Committee will consider Trade Promotion Authority, also known as fast-track authority, along with legislation to renew and expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to include service workers hurt by trade and bills to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the General System of Preferences and assistance to Haiti.
While lawmakers debate, opponents of Trade Promotion Authority are scheduled to rally at First Street and Constitution Avenue NE. They are concerned about the legislation and the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact the Obama administration is working on.
The trade adjustment bill is a sweetener for Democrats who say workers affected by imports or by companies moving operations and jobs to other countries need assistance and job training to recover. Hatch would not guess how many committee Democrats will vote for Trade Promotion Authority because it's packaged with trade adjustment assistance.
The bill includes a health care tax credit to help workers who have lost health insurance.
The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, the American Health Care Association and the National Association for Home Care and Hospice raised concerns Tuesday about the way the Finance Committee would pay for the tax credit. The organizations urged lawmakers to pull the provision because it would mean more cuts in Medicare payments to providers and set a bad precedent to use Medicare cuts to pay for non-Medicare programs.
The health care tax credit got little mention at a Senate Finance Committee hearing where Richard L. Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, offered differing views on fast-track authority and the benefits of trade.
Trumka said neither the Trade Promotion Authority bill nor the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact that is nearing completion include strong and actionable protections for U.S. workers against unfair trade practices that jeopardize jobs. He said it was misleading to characterize his position as a choice between the Trans-Pacific Partnership and no trade agreement.
Trumka said organized labor is calling for a better and more robust trade pact.
Donohue said the Chamber backs the bill and sees the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact as opening the door for opportunities for U.S. manufacturers and service providers. He said trade agreements are key to giving U.S. businesses tools to fight unfair trade practices.
Lawmakers released the draft of the bill April 16 that would give the president broad freedom to negotiate trade pacts but would include enough checks to satisfy members of Congress worried that such deals threaten jobs and the environment.
The administration is currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Obama administration officials and supporters on the Hill say Trade Promotion Authority eases negotiations because partner nations worry less about Congress amending deals that have been negotiated. The authority gives the administration parameters, but Congress can vote agreements up or down; it can't change them.

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