Senate Democrats Accept Leader McConnell’s Bipartisan Path Forward on Trade
‘The plan I’m about to offer will follow the regular order on the trade bill, while also allowing Senators the opportunity to take votes on the customs and preferences bills – in a way that will not imperil the increased American exports and American trade jobs we need. We would then turn to the trade bill with TPA and TAA as the base bill, and open the floor to amendments as I’ve suggested all week. It’s reasonable.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today offering a path forward on bipartisan trade legislation:
“This morning, I restated my commitment to working with Senators in a serious way to move our country ahead on trade in the economy of the 21st century. I said that we need to allow debate on this important issue to begin, and that our colleagues across the aisle need to stop blocking us from doing so.
“That’s the view from our side, it’s the view from the White House, and it’s the view of serious people from across the political spectrum.
“I’ve repeatedly stated my commitment to serious, bipartisan ways forward on this issue. Now ‘serious and bipartisan’ does not mean agreeing to impossible guarantees or swallowing poison pills designed to kill the legislation, but it does mean pursuing reasonable options that are actually designed to get a good policy result in the end.
“That’s why I’ve agreed to keep my party’s significant concession of offering to process both TPA and TAA on the table.
“It’s why I’ve said we could also consider other policies Chairman Hatch and Senator Wyden agree to.
“And it’s why I’ve underlined my commitment to an open amendment process once we get on the bill.
“Of course, our friends across the aisle now say that they also want a path forward on all four of the trade bills the Finance Committee passed. And this isn’t just an issue for our friends on the other side — there’s a great deal of support on our side for many of the things contained in these bills.
“However, as a senior Senator in the Democrat leadership reminded us yesterday, we have to take some of these votes separately or else we’ll kill the underlying legislation.
“So the plan I’m about to offer will provide our Democrat colleagues with a sensible way forward without killing the bill.
“The plan I’m about to offer will follow the regular order on the trade bill, while also allowing Senators the opportunity to take votes on the customs and preferences bills – in a way that will not imperil the increased American exports and American trade jobs we need.
“We would then turn to the trade bill with TPA and TAA as the base bill, and open the floor to amendments as I’ve suggested all week. It’s reasonable.
“So I look forward to our friends across the aisle now joining with us to move forward on this issue in a serious way.”
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Related Issues: Economy, Senate Democrats, Back to Work, Free Trade, Middle Class, Trade Promotion Authority, Jobs
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