Senate leaders reach deal paving way for passage of trade deals

Senate leaders announced Wednesday night three long-stalled trade agreements will move through the chamber in September. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said they had agreed upon a deal that will guarantee a vote on an assistance program that helps workers hurt by international trade deals, known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). Republicans had objected to linking the program to trade deals negotiated by the Bush administration with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. 

The agreement clears the way for votes in the House and Senate on the three deals, which President Obama this week said would create jobs in the U.S. It will also set off a fight between Obama and much of organized labor, which opposes the agreements.

{mosads}The three deals have significant support from both parties, though many Democrats, particularly in the House, are likely to vote against the agreements. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said it was “debatable” whether the agreements would create jobs.

While the Senate leaders did not specify how the deals would move forward, one likely scenario, hinted at by Reid, is that a stand-alone TAA bill would go through the Senate, first followed by the three free-trade agreements (FTAs). 

“We believe those discussions have provided a path forward in the Senate after we return for passage of the bipartisan compromise on the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, followed by passage of the three FTAs,” Reid said in a statement. “I do not support movement on the FTAs, which I have never supported, until TAA has passed.”

Although McConnell doesn’t support TAA, Senate Republicans had lined up enough support to ensure its passage as a standalone bill. 

“I agree with the majority leader that we have a path forward on TAA and the free-trade agreements,” McConnell said. “I have long supported passage of the long-delayed FTAs, and I know that I speak for many on my side of the aisle that we are eager to get moving and finally pass them,” he said.

“Although I do not personally support TAA, I know there is bipartisan support for this program.”

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) acknowledged the long-awaited agreement, vowing to pass all four bills. 

“Upon reaching a path forward for the three pending free trade agreements in the Senate, Senate leaders have cleared an important hurdle,” he said in a statement. 

“I look forward to the House passing the FTAs, in tandem with separate consideration of TAA legislation, as soon as possible.”

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk expressed support of the agreement he says will create much-needed jobs. 

“I am very pleased that Senators Reid and McConnell have agreed on a path forward in the Senate for the pending trade agreements and Trade Adjustment Assistance,” he said in a statement.

“As the president has said, these agreements will support tens of thousands of jobs here at home, and the administration looks forward to working with leaders of the Senate and House after Congress returns in September to secure approval of these important initiatives for America’s working families.”

Lawmakers have been in discussions for weeks over how to move the three FTAs and TAA, a program that retrains workers displaced by foreign trade, but the debt-limit negotiations dominated the legislative agenda.