On November 16, 2011, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and seven Members of Congress sent a letter to President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia announcing that they have established a Congressional Monitoring Group on Labor Rights in Colombia that will work closely with the Obama Administration, U.S. and Colombian labor organizations and non-governmental organizations, and the Colombian government to ensure that both the U.S. and Colombia continue to make progress on labor rights, including the commitments and timelines announced in the Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights (Labor Action Plan).
Senator Joseph Lieberman (I), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, stated during the November 2, 2011 hearing, "Ten Years After 9/11: The Next Wave in Aviation Security", that he and Senator Susan Collins (R) were working on legislation that would require data to be collected on all cargo shipments before loading onto planes. While Lieberman noted that DHS was working with shippers and air carriers to obtain descriptions of cargo earlier in the process (in order to determine the risk and the type of screening needed), enacting a new law would ensure that all high risk cargo is screened properly before it is airborne. On international flights, current law only requires cargo details once the plane has taken off, but before it arrives in U.S.
On November 18, 2011, the following trade-related bills were introduced:
On November 18, 2011, the Senate confirmed Michael Khouri to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner for a term expiring June 30, 2016.
On November 18, 2011, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) and Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY) introduced a resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. should initiate negotiations to enter into a free trade agreement with Egypt. (H. Res. 472). Among other things, the Resolution states that engagement with Egypt through trade negotiations would encourage greater reform and build its capacity to modernize and liberalize its economy and that Egypt is already an important trading partner for the U.S., accounting for over $9 billion in two-way trade in 2010 and representing the fourth largest destination for U.S. corn and wheat exports.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), along with all members of the Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Kirk and Commerce Secretary Bryson on November 17, 2011 about the upcoming meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT). The letter highlights the need to address long-standing and specific concerns, improve U.S. market access in China, use commercially meaningful metrics to measure the effectiveness of commitments, and further China's rebalancing of its economy.
On November 16, 2011, the following trade-related bills were introduced:
On November 15, 2011, Representative Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, and other Democratic Members of the Committee sent a letter to the Transportation Security Administration requesting an extension for transportation and port workers to renew their Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC), which Thompson has stated will begin to expire in 2012.
Representative Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, joined House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) and other House Republicans in announcing plans to move forward with a long-term transportation reauthorization bill to improve the nation’s infrastructure and create jobs.
On November 15, 2011, the House passed H.R. 2838, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011, which would authorize appropriations for the U.S. Coast Guard for fiscal years 2012 through 2014. According to a House Transportation Committee press release, H.R. 2838 would, among other things, strengthen existing authorities against piracy and improve an existing training program to instruct mariners on acceptable use of force against pirates. It would authorize armed security on vessels carrying government impelled cargo through high risk waters, and it includes a report on ways to improve U.S. efforts to track ransom payments and the movement of money through Somali piracy networks.