[CTC] Pelosi: 'Not my responsibility' to find votes for Obama trade bill

Fri Jun 5 08:30:53 PDT 2015

With transcript below...

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/244033-pelosi-not-my-responsibility-to-find-the-votes-for-obama-trade-bill

Pelosi: 'Not my responsibility' to find votes for Obama trade bill

By Mike Lillis <http://thehill.com/author/mike-lillis> and Scott Wong <http://thehill.com/author/scott-wong> - 06/04/15 12:12 PM EDT
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said the onus is squarely on Republicans to find the votes to pass a central piece of President Obama’s trade agenda.

"It's absolutely the Speaker's responsibility," Pelosi said. "Every time we had a bill that came to the floor when I was Speaker he said it was a test of my leadership. It's a test of his.

"I have confidence in him," she added. "I believe he can deliver 200 of his members, but it's not my responsibility."

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The Republicans control an overwhelming 245 seats in the lower chamber; they need only 218 to pass the trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation they're championing. 

But a large number of conservatives oppose the notion of granting any new powers to a president they've long accused of abusing his executive authority, leaving GOP leaders scrambling to rally Republican votes while the White House races to shore up more support on the Democratic side.

At least 15 Democrats have said <http://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/241114-whip-list-dems-bucking-obama-on-trade> they'll vote in favor of the bill when it hits the House floor, which as expected as early as next week. Pelosi declined to say how she herself would vote, but suggested that number won't top 20.  

"They need 218, they have probably have … a dozen and a half on the Democratic side — I don't know where everybody is — the Speaker should be able to deliver 200 votes," Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol. 

"I don't know why — they want this so much, they have the majority — why there's even any question they can deliver their vote," she added.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has rejected the notion that it's the Republicans' responsibility to get the TPA bill through the House, arguing that more Democrats should be willing to back the top economic priority of their ally in the White House.

Speaking to reporters after Pelosi's press conference, Boehner dodged a question about the Democratic leader’s 200-vote challenge.

“I’m not the whip, so I don’t get into vote counts,” Boehner said. “We’re working to get trade promotion authority finished.”

The White House agreed with Pelosi, saying it has "no reason to disagree with her assessment" that Republicans will need to shoulder the load for passing fast-track through the House.

“There is no one who is a better, more effective and more accurate vote counter on Capitol Hill than Nancy Pelosi," press secretary Josh Earnest said. 

Earnest said the onus is on Boehner to deliver the bulk of the votes for the fast-track bill. 

“We would expect he would use that substantial majority” to win support for the bill, Earnest said of the Speaker. 

The president is personally lobbying House Democrats to back the measure and Earnest said that effort will continue "right up until the vote occurs." 
In recent days, Boehner has been meeting with undecided Republicans to sway their vote on TPA.

On Wednesday, the Speaker led a TPA rally in the Capitol’s basement with more than 200 pro-trade allies from the manufacturing, agriculture, shipping and other industries. He also spoke by phone with Obama to compare notes on the trade bill.

“He’s got some work to do too,” Boehner said of the president.

Taking up the bill “sooner is better than later,” the Speaker added. “If we don’t get it done in June, I don’t know why you’d think we can get it done in July.”

"We need to get this finished. We’re gonna get it done.”

Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), briefing reporters on Thursday, acknowledged that supporters didn't have the votes yet to pass TPA but called it a "very good week" for the effort.

"We're picking up votes every day," including several votes on the House floor during a vote series on Thursday, Ryan said. "The undecideds are falling the right way."

"I have not been as confident as I am right now," he added.

Obama has been hitting the phones to lobby members who are on the fence, and this week taped a series of local media interviews on trade that are airing in the districts of key Democrats.

“I’m pretty confident that we are going to be able to get this done,” Obama said during an interview <http://www.king5.com/media/cinematic/video/28439481/dennis-bounds-interview-with-pres-obama/> with Seattle NBC affiliate KING. 

The president reportedly told <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/243863-obama-says-he-has-20-dem-votes-on-fast-track> Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a TPA supporter, that he has at least 20 Democratic votes for the trade bill so far.

But the trade bill is no easy sell for the White House, with Democrats feeling heavy pressure from labor unions and liberal groups to oppose it.

While Obama argues he is negotiating the “most progressive” trade deal in history, many Democrats are skeptical, fearing the agreement will ultimately backfire on American workers.

“I take the president at his word that he believes ... the argument he’s making, but I think he’s wrong,” Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said <http://thehill.com/policy/finance/243969-obamas-trust-me-approach-fall-flat-with-dems> Wednesday. 

“It’s clear that this will, in the long term, not result in the growth of American jobs and an increase in wages,” he added.

— This story was last updated at 1:22 p.m. 

Scott Wong and Jordan Fabian contributed to this piece.

CQ NEWSMAKER TRANSCRIPTS
Congressional Events
June 4, 2015 - Final
House Minority Leader Pelosi Holds News Conference
LIST OF SPEAKERS

QUESTION:
Since (ph) the House is approaching votes on trade. And as you know, the president does not want changes to the Senate bill because it would require it to go back to the Senate. Can you support that TPA deal as it came over...

PELOSI:
Well, let's go back to your first point. The House is fast approaching. Do you know something I don't know? When is this going to happen? I suppose when they have the votes and we'll see when that is.

The -- we have really had a very, I believe, internally respectful process going forward where we have invited the administration on a regular basis to address different categories in the bill and in some cases, different countries in the partnership -- the pacific trans partnership -- the PTT.

PELOSI:
The vote, there'll be two votes, as you know. One eventually when the bill is negotiated and people see what actually the final product is, and that's months away. But a vote that is closer in time, but I don't know how near, is the PTA. And we have -- we're in the process of finishing our drilling down on certain issues and countries to see how we can do better on the PTA.

There are other issues, too, in the T.A., the Trade Adjustment Act, that we need to pass in a better way than passed the Senate. So there are some -- they sent over two bills, joined at the -- would you say the hip or the shoulder or the -- well, joined. And we are saying that many -- we have many objections to the TPA, but the T.A. bill is a nonstarter in terms of how it is paid for.

QUESTION:
How many votes have you told Speaker Boehner he is going to have to deliver from his side of the aisle to get TPA across...

(CROSSTALK)

PELOSI:
200.

QUESTION:
So, 17 -- the 17 declared Democrats are the only ones that you can...

PELOSI:
No. I don't know, but I think that 200 is what he should come up with. They have 246, or 245 -- whatever the number is. They have over 245 votes. I think they picked up another one the other day. Or is that person sworn in yet?

QUESTION:
(inaudible).

PELOSI:
Well, in any event, they have 245 votes. They need 218. They probably have, as you said, a dozen and a half on the Democratic side, so far. I don't know where everybody is. And 200 -- the speaker should be able to deliver 200 votes. The awesome power of the speaker -- I know of what I speak.

But maybe there'll be more Democrats. I don't know. I don't think that -- I don't know why -- they want this so much -- they have the majority -- why there's even any question that they can deliver their vote. But you have to speak to him. 200 -- that would be a good, round number. A little safe number -- safety in numbers, in case somebody doesn't show up that day. You know.

OK?

Yes, sir?

QUESTION:
You -- you mentioned the submission (ph) to TAA...

PELOSI:
Yeah.

QUESTION:
... the pay-for. (ph)

PELOSI:
Yes.

QUESTION:
Dollar per dollar amount, that's a relatively small issue. Can you kind of go into detail about -- about what the dates (ph) will -- what -- what your objectives are for the pay-for?

PELOSI:
The pay-for that the Senate had came out of Medicare. So I have a -- an objection to that. And you're right to point out that the money that is set aside for the Trade Adjustment Act to help those workers in those communities that have been hurt by trade -- it is -- it's under a billion dollars. It's several hundred million dollars. A small price to pay. Really, we should be doing much more. But nonetheless, it must be paid for, and we don't like where they've taken the pay-for.

PELOSI:
But I'm hopeful that working together in a bipartisan way, that we can come up with a better pay-for so that we can have that bill pass so that we can move on to the taking up of the TPA. And I don't know where the votes are on that.

But put this in perspective. We're asking for a better pay-for so that the same communities that we're trying to help in terms of trade adjustment are not hurt by taking the money out of Medicare. We think that's really a bad choice. At the same time, this Congress in recent time has -- weeks ago, maybe a couple of months -- has passed legislation -- you've heard me say this before, I think it bears repeating -- over $260 billion in tax cuts. That's over a quarter of a trillion dollars in tax cuts for the 5,400 wealthiest families in America. Unpaid for, 5,400 wealthiest families get a tax cut of over a trillion dollars unpaid for. Certainly, we can afford a few hundred million -- not billion, hundred million dollars to help communities or workers who are affected by the trade adjustment. It has to be paid for, let's find a pay-for. Let's not take it at a place that hurts the very people that we're trying to help.

I just have time for one more question because the Speaker will be here in a minute.

QUESTION:
Madame Leader, passing the president's trade bill, do you feel that you have responsibility for passing the president's trade bill or the Speaker's

PELOSI:
It's absolutely the Speaker's responsibility. It's where the support exists in his caucus. He has the majority, and it's his responsibility. And every time we had a bill that came to the floor when I was Speaker, he said it was a test of my leadership, it's a test of his.

PELOSI:
I have confidence in him. I think he can deliver 200 -- 200 of his members, but it's not my responsibility.

QUESTION:
I want to follow up on that, just quickly. You know, 14 Senate Democrats supported this, and that's 32 percent of Senate Democrats.

PELOSI:
Yeah.

QUESTION:
(inaudible) 32 percent of House Democrats get behind something that the president wants delivered?

PELOSI:
I don't think we have time to go into all of that, because the speaker's coming here right now. But we do not set our agenda -- the Senate as a standard for our -- where we are on a bill. Our members are taking this very, very seriously. We have many members who are not supporting this, who have, over time, always supported trade initiatives, that just don't think that this reaches the standard that we need to go forward with 11 different kinds of countries.

But you have to ask them individually, because these are individual votes, and I can't tell you why some are one place, or some are an other. But I can tell you that it is a very large number in our caucus that is not supportive of it.

And, again, if we were to use the Senate standard, then we would hope that they would use our standard from time to time. But we're two separate bodies, and that's the beauty of it. And we respect -- respect those differences and respect each person's vote.

But you'd have to go back to the origins of our country, when they decided that each state would have two votes in the Senate and that the House would be divided by population. And maybe you could compare those numbers to population, rather than House to Senate, because it's just -- it doesn't have any -- any parity.

In any event, it's a -- it's a lively debate. It's a refreshing debate. It's substantive. And it's an opportunity to do something great in terms of our presence in the global economy.

If it doesn't meet the standard that we've all put forth, which is to increase the paycheck of American workers, and that means lifting the working conditions and wages of workers in other countries. Otherwise, we're driving down the paychecks of American workers.

But putting that aside and going back to what is on the floor now, which are these bills which are cutting into initiatives that help America's working families, protect the American people, grow the economy, instead, we are giving tax breaks at the high end and to special interests rather than addressing the needs of the peoples' interest, all of which will be -- bring a return to the Treasury and to our economy.

Thank you all very much. Go Giants.

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