Senate

Wyden: Dems will hold the line on customs bill

by Jordain Carney - 06/23/15 12:26 PM ET

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is trying to reassure colleagues who are concerned about a package of trade bills, pledging to push for Senate Democratic proposals during a conference with House lawmakers on a customs bill.

“I want to make it clear … that I expect that conference to respect Democratic priorities, and my Democratic colleagues and I will be laying down markers on several of our top priorities,” Wyden, who has guided a separate trade promotion authority (TPA) bill in the Senate, said on Tuesday. “I discussed those priorities with [House Ways and Means Committee] Chairman [Paul] Ryan [R-Wis.] last night.”

{mosads}Sending a Senate-passed customs and enforcement bill to conference with the House so lawmakers can merge their versions of the bill is the final piece of a trade package in Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed cloture earlier Tuesday on a motion to go to conference on the customs bill, setting up a Senate vote later this week after the upper chamber passes TPA and a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) proposal that’s been included in a trade preferences bill.

Wyden said he would push for a measure from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) that would bolster small businesses, a proposal by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) that would crack down on trade partners that violate environmental laws and a plan by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to establish a trade enforcement trust fund.

Cantwell, Shaheen and Bennet are part of a group of 13 Democratic senators who voted to move forward with TPA on Tuesday, after McConnell and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) repeatedly pledged that they would also vote on TAA, which is favored by Democrats.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who voted against moving forward with TPA, appeared to dismiss leadership promises, however, asking, “What makes you think TAA would be acceptable in any way, shape, or form in the House?”

Tags Boehner Jeanne Shaheen Joe Manchin John Boehner Maria Cantwell Michael Bennet Mitch McConnell Ron Wyden