Pro-trade Dem calls House fast-track vote ‘shortsighted’

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is pressing the House to reconsider a failed vote on trade adjustment assistance after House Democrats blocked the proposal in an attempt to kill a broader trade package. 

Wyden, who spearheaded Democratic support for the White House trade agenda in the Senate, called the decision to defeat TAA in order to sink fast-track a “shortsighted decision.”

{mosads}“It is disappointing that members of my own party voted against expanding assistance and health coverage to workers solely to bring down trade legislation, and I am pleased the House will hold another vote on TAA next week,” Wyden said in a statement. 

The Oregon Democrat added that the House, which is expected to return to Washington on Monday, should “quickly get back to work” on passing the trade package. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats voted against TAA because they saw it as the best way to stop fast-track.

The package was approved by the Senate, and both measures need passed the House to be sent to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the chairman of the Finance Committee, on Friday pledged to continue to “find a way” to get the fast-track trade bill signed into law. 

Hatch and other top Republicans acknowledged during the Senate’s debate that TPA likely wouldn’t be able to get enough votes to pass the Senate without the trade adjustment proposal, which is considered crucial for Democratic support. 

Opponents in the Senate of the trade legislation quickly pounced on the setback in the House, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running for president, calling it a “defeat for corporate America.”