Administration's Draft TPP Legislation Would Be Needed Soon for Lame Duck Vote, NFTC President Says
The Obama administration would likely need to provide draft Trans-Pacific Partnership implementing legislation before November for any real chance of congressional passage during its upcoming lame duck session, new National Foreign Trade Council President Rufus Yerxa said July 12. “You probably can’t just start the clock in the lame duck with the legislation submitted and make it absolutely certain that you’d have a vote at the end, because the number of legislative days and everything would go beyond the session,” Yerxa said.
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Despite a lack of political will that is dampening prospects for TPP consideration, it's still possible, he said. Yerxa harkened back to 1994, when he served as a deputy U.S. trade representative and Congress passed the fast-tracked Uruguay Round Agreements Act following congressional lame duck votes that happened only after substantial committee work. "If people had wanted to hold it up, they could've run out the clock," he said. "It's just that we got an agreement from the leadership ... in the Senate to get it out of committees and get a vote on the floor before the end of the lame-duck session." But that bill was much longer than what’s expected in TPP implementation legislation, he said during an event with reporters. He echoed sentiments previously expressed throughout administration ranks, including repeatedly by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, that TPP cannot be renegotiated (see 1510190005). If a new Clinton or Trump administration wants to rewrite the agreement, “all bets are off, and it’s not clear where any of that would come out,” Yerxa said.
NFTC is focusing most of its lobbying efforts in the House, in hopes of building momentum for passage alongside House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, who has indicated desires to move TPP implementation legislation forward, Yerxa said. NFTC and members of the U.S. Coalition for TPP are highlighting benefits the deal will yield for specific sectors and businesses in different states and congressional districts, Yerxa added. “I don’t think we have any huge expectation that we’re going to have a massive shift in where people stand on this,” he said. “It’s a long-term investment, and we’re trying to make the arguments, and provide [House lawmakers] with the information. A lot of this is U.S. companies going up there and talking about what’s going on in somebody’s state, in somebody’s district.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said his committee is in talks with President Barack Obama about holding TPP hearings as Congress continues to communicate with the administration about the TPP implementation process (see 1606290048). Further complicating matters is a vow by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., not to allow a vote on TPP if Democrats win enough seats in November to make him Senate majority leader next year, according to an article in The Washington Post (here). The Ways and Means and Finance committees didn’t comment.