The Senate Finance Committee approved by unanimous voice vote the nominations of Darci Vetter as chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Stefan Selig to be under secretary for international trade at the Commerce Department on May 21. The two nominees testified before the committee on May 8 (see 14050904). The full Senate will now have to consider the nominations.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal year 2015 (FY15) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development draft funding bill on May 21, according to the committee. The draft legislation would fund the Federal Maritime Commission at nearly $25.5 million, representing a bump of almost $1 million in appropriations from FY14 levels. The draft would also increase Federal Aviation Administration funding to $9.75 billion from the FY14 enacted level of $9.65. The FY15 draft legislation would keep funding at $259 million for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and $134 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the same levels as in FY 2014.
Correction: The full Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up agriculture appropriations legislation on May 22 (see 14051926). The Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies considered the bill on May 20.
The congressional fight over reauthorization of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank is poised to continue in the coming weeks, as the House Financial Services Committee leadership again traded jabs on May 20 on the merits of the bank. The Ex-Im Bank’s charter will expire at the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation the bank’s loans most significantly benefit the largest multinational corporations, including General Electric, Ford and Boeing.
The House and Senate appropriations subcommittees for agriculture considered on May 20 draft bills for agriculture funding in fiscal year 2015 that contain similar overall funding levels. Neither chamber amended the bills, opting to allow the amendment process to take place during full committee mark ups. The House draft legislation (here), released on May 19, provides $142.5 billion in total funding for the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and related agencies, including $20.9 billion in discretionary funding (see 14051919).
The House passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) with overwhelming support on May 20, following the release of the bill’s conference report in recent days (see 14051612). Four Republican House members opposed the legislation. The Senate is due to vote on the measure on May 22. The report aims to put into law mandates for full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) for harbor maintenance and dredging by 2025, with annual increases in use over the next 10 years.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The Senate Appropriations Committee leadership should resist expected Senate attempts to weaken country-of-origin labeling (COOL) regulations during mark up of Agriculture appropriations legislation on May 20, said more than 170 environmental, labor and other advocacy organizations. The organizations urged Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and ranking member Richard Shelby, R-Ala., to prevent any legislative changes to COOL, claiming the regulations protect consumers. “There is no need to halt enforcement of COOL. Congress intended to maintain the current COOL labels when it refused to accept a provision that would have hamstrung COOL as part of the 2014 Farm Bill,” said the letter. “We ask that you follow the leadership of the Senate Agriculture Committee in opposing any changes to COOL at this juncture.” The COOL law is currently being challenged at the World Trade Organization by Canada and Mexico. COOL opponents claim the retention of the law in the Farm Bill will encourage retaliation (see 14012930).
The fiscal year 2015 (FY15) appropriations legislation (here) for the departments of Commerce and Justice, along with related agencies, advanced (here) through the House Rules Committee on May 19, and was reported to the House floor. The bill, introduced on May 15 by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., slightly boosts funding for the International Trade Administration and Bureau of Industry and Security. The legislation also significantly increases allocations for the Census Bureau.
The House Committee on Ways and Means asked the U.S. International Trade Commission on May 15 to conduct an investigation into current market conditions the U.S. rice industry faces globally. The committee is requesting an overview of both the U.S. rice industry and industries in other major global producing countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Uruguay, and Brazil. Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., asked for the results of the general fact finding investigation by April 2015. The U.S. has contested Turkish (here) and Belgian (here) import restrictions on U.S. rice exports in recent years.