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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#999999'>CQ NEWS – #WGDB<br>May 11, 2015 – 5:06 a.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#404040'>Democrats Push for Trade Sweeteners<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#999999'>By Matthew Fleming<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333'><img width=1280 height=851 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D08BFA.F7431D40" alt="Story Photo"></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#888888'>GOP leaders may need to add sweeteners on the Senate floor to get enough Democrats to back fast-track trade authority. Finance Chairman Hatch, right, and ranking member Wyden earlier shepherded TPA through committee. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Senate leaders are determining what provisions to include in a trade bill that is supported by the White House and the Senate majority, but not many Senate Democrats.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Two bills are expected to be included: TPA, known as fast track, which speeds up consideration of trade deals with Asia and Europe, and TAA, which gives income support and training to workers displaced by international trade.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>But Democrats on the fence are demanding sweeteners, and don’t trust they’ll be able to get them after they’ve signed onto the trade agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Among the bills some Democrats want to add are a bill that gives trade preferences to developing nations, as well as a bill that deters the import of artificially cheap products.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>The uncertainty over the language stems from the fact TPA is considered a revenue bill starting in the Senate, so Republicans will have to take an innocuous House bill and substitute in the trade agreement, according to a Republican aide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Republicans are adamant Democratic insistence on including the two additional provisions is counter to what was agreed to in committee. In a markup late last month, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ranking member <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/406"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Ron Wyden</span></b></a>, D-Ore., both referred to TPA and TAA being considered as a package, with no mention of the other two.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>A Wyden aide told CQ Roll Call the ranking member will push Republicans for “a guarantee that all four bills will become law,” while Hatch told reporters on Thursday he didn’t expect all four bills to be rolled into one, and while he hates TAA, “it’s the cost of doing business.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>“I expect that we’ll pass both TPA and TAA and we’ll work on the others,” Hatch said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>With some Republican defections expected, President <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/7612"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Barack Obama</span></b></a>, who supports the trade package, has been aggressively trying to shore up congressional Democrats.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Early last week, Minority Leader <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/337"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Harry Reid</span></b></a>, whose position on the trade deal is “<a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/harry-reid-a-hell-no-on-obamas-fast-track-push/?dcz="><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Hell no</span></b></a>,” pushed to block the trade deals until the Senate dealt with the expiring FISA and Federal Highway Trust Fund, but relented later in the week as leadership pushed for the four trade bills instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>It’s unclear if Republicans will have the 60 votes needed for cloture, as some Democrats are holding out to see if they can get all four bills.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Minority Whip <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/176"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Richard J. Durbin</span></b></a>, D-Ill., said last week that he didn’t know if there were enough votes for Republicans to invoke cloture, that it “depends on what the package will look like.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>He said Republican leaders probably stand to lose three to six Republicans and therefore will need as many as a dozen Democratic votes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>“The key to it is … the customs enforcement/currency,” Durbin said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who has backed TPA, said Republicans risk losing Democratic votes if their concerns aren’t addressed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>“I don’t think we can get a lot more votes because it’s packaged together, but I think you can lose votes if it’s not packaged together,” Cardin said. “I want to make sure that the worker protections are there, the enforcement’s in there … the trade adjustment assistance is in there…the currency issues, these are all important issues.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Promises of future action aren’t good enough for some senators.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>“The president’s not going to stop the TPA bill because of the other bills, so you’ve got to get them all together,” Cardin said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Sen. <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/80"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Dianne Feinstein</span></b></a>, D-Calif., was quick to issue a statement supporting the four bills as one package.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Sen. <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/522"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Patty Murray</span></b></a>, D-Wash., supports the four bills, but according to spokesman Eli Zupnick, “she is talking to her colleagues about the best path forward.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Although he said he’s supportive of trade, Sen. <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/12"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Jeff Sessions</span></b></a>, R-Ala., has expressed <a href="http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=3F2BC867-61A0-41E2-BF75-9D6EC8A7C7E7"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>concerns</span></b></a> about TPA, both in writing and on the Senate floor.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>The White House has been pushing for the trade bills, putting it at odds with a faction of the Democratic Party that is generally opposed to trade. In recent weeks, Obama has had a very public feud with Sen. <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/46463"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Elizabeth Warren</span></b></a>, D-Mass.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Obama has been increasingly vocal in responding to fellow Democrats critical of his trade agenda, while Sens. <a href="http://www.cq.com/person/384"><b><span style='color:#115F85;text-decoration:none'>Sherrod Brown</span></b></a>, D-Ohio, and Warren wrote in a recent letter that some of Obama’s criticism was “dishonest,” and warned fast track could help future presidents, who could be Republican.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'>Niels Lesniewski and Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report.</span></i><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>