McConnell Warns Senators TPA Debate May Chip Into Recess
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledged again to pass Trade Promotion Authority before Memorial Day recess, but warned senators against making travel plans to leave Washington until the “path forward becomes clear” on TPA. “The Senate will finish its work on trade this week, and we will remain in session as long as it takes to do so,” said McConnell on the Senate floor on May 18. The recess extends to June 1 for both the House and Senate.
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Senate Democrats have “wasted” a week of potential debate on trade by obstructing votes, said McConnell. The Senate ultimately passed Customs Reauthorization and the preference package on May 14, and then voted to open debate on TPA and Trade Adjustment Assistance (see 1505150021). But two days before, Democrats shot down McConnell's first procedural motion to open debate on TPA and TAA (see 1505130015).
McConnell renewed his call to wrap up work on trade this week, during a May 19 press conference with Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Mark Warner, D-Va., two domestic manufacturers and an agricultural producer. McConnell has pushed lawmakers to move quickly on amendments during comments on the Senate floor. "We need to keep the ball moving," he said. "So let me again encourage members of both parties to offer those amendments. Let me again encourage members to work with the bill managers to get those amendments moving."
The Senate voted down an amendment, offered on May 18 by Sen. Sherrod Brown, to restore Trade Adjustment Assistance funding to the program’s 2011 level. Democrats backed the bill, but Republicans opposed en masse and the legislation failed 45-41. The Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment to consider religious freedoms in countries the U.S. negotiates free trade agreements with. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced the amendment. McConnell had not scheduled May 19 votes on other amendments by the time International Trade Today went to press.
The Senate will also pass legislation to fund transportation infrastructure funding and extend the federal government’s surveillance authority, McConnell said. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., introduced a short-term infrastructure extension, S-1350, in recent days, but the bill text is not yet public. The House is scheduled to vote on the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, HR-2353 (here), on May 19 (here). The bill would extend funding through July 31.
Meanwhile, McConnell introduced on May 14 his stopgap surveillance measure, S-1357, which would extend surveillance authority through July 31. The text is also not public. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., however, vowed recently to filibuster Senate passage of the bill, which could affect consideration of trade bills. Paul, a vocal critic of government surveillance overreach, said he would do "everything humanly possible" to obstruct the legislation in an interview aired on May 18 (here).