[CTC] Pelosi calls bipartisan TPA bill a 'pothole'

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Pelosi calls bipartisan TPA bill a 'pothole'
 
4/23/15 2:53 PM EDT
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today dismissed a bipartisan trade promotion authority bill approved yesterday by the Senate Finance Committee as "a pothole" and accused Republicans of unfairly barring a House Ways and Means Committee vote on a Democratic alternative.

"I said I'm looking for a path to yes," Pelosi told reporters. "We recognize there will be bumps in the road, that path. I think what the Republicans ... put out is not a bump in the road. It's more like a pothole, and we can do better than that."

Ways and Means is currently considering the bill — the companion of which passed Senate Finance 20-6 on Wednesday — including an alternative offered by the panel's ranking Democrat, Sander Levin, but will not vote on the substitute. Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan ruled it was not germane because it would change fast-track trade procedures under the jurisdiction of the Rules Committee.

Pelosi called the ruling "unfair" but declined to say how she would vote on the bill if it reached the floor. She seemed reluctant to acknowledge any Democratic involvement in the legislation, referring to it as "the Senate plus Ryan" bill.

During committee debate, Levin warned Ryan that he was making a mistake by not allowing a direct vote on his alternative. "What's happening here is trying to use a point of process to deny a vote on serious policy," Levin said.

But Ryan argued that Ways and Means must respect the jurisdiction of other committees so that those panels don't "infiltrate or take over the jurisdiction of this committee."

"Of course, we have the votes" to defeat Levin's alternative, but that's not the point, Ryan said, adding Levin had the choice of rewriting the bill to avoid the jurisdictional issue but decided not to do that.

— Doug Palmer and Adam Behsudi
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