Dem senators: Slow down on fast-track bill

Four Senate Democrats expressed concern Thursday evening that the process for giving the White House fast-track authority for trade deals is moving ahead too quickly.

Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) — all members of the Finance Committee — said they are worried that there isn’t enough time to evaluate trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation before an expected vote by the panel next week.

“With millions of American manufacturing jobs on the line, we need a thorough legislative hearing schedule with both public and private sector witnesses that can testify on all four bills in the package,” the senators wrote in a statement.

“We urge the chairman and ranking member to revisit the committee’s schedule to ensure that Congress has time to conduct critical oversight.”

{mosads}Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), along with ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), unveiled an updated TPA bill on Thursday.

Hatch said he hopes to vote on the bill in his committee next Thursday. But Senate aides said that timeframe isn’t certain.

During a hearing earlier Thursday, the four Democratic senators all raised concerns about the tight schedule for moving a fast-track bill to the floor.
 
“While we appreciate the efforts made to improve the bill, there’s more that needs to be done,” they said in their statement.

“We are committed to improving this bill by offering amendments through the committee and floor process that will ensure trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership do not continue the trend of offshoring American jobs and driving down wages.”