Thread: Obama trade agenda clears key Senate test vote

Obama trade agenda clears key Senate test vote

Published June 23, 2015 FoxNews.com

President Obama's trade agenda narrowly cleared a key Senate hurdle on Tuesday, moving the legislation toward passage just days after congressional leaders helped rescue it from a Democrat-led rebellion.

The Senate voted, 60-37, to cut off debate and move toward a final vote. The bill needed 60 votes to advance.

The result is a big win for the White House and Republican congressional leaders who allied with the president on the package -- an issue that has created unusual alliances and stirred deep tensions with the Democratic caucus.

The bill itself would allow Obama to obtain "fast track" authority to negotiate trade deals. He wants that power to move a major agreement with Pacific Rim countries and others.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015...ate-test-vote/

Trade Bill Faces Key Vote in Senate

Republican leader Mitch McConnell schedules Tuesday vote on fast-track bill, hopes to draw enough Democrats

ENLARGE
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, one of the 14 pro-trade Democrats who voted for fast-track legislation last month, says he is ready to support it again on Tuesday.PHOTO: JIM LO SCALZO/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

By SIOBHAN HUGHES
Updated June 23, 2015 11:31 a.m. ET 50 COMMENTS

WASHINGTON—The fate of President Barack Obama’s trade agenda is in the hands of a half-dozen or so Senate Democrats as the chamber heads toward a pivotal Tuesday vote on expanding trade negotiating authority.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has set up a procedural vote that is the highest hurdle left for legislation to give the president the power to submit trade pacts to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments. The GOP leader is betting that enough of the 14 pro-trade Senate Democrats who voted for fast-track legislation last month will support the bill this week and trust him to deliver on related trade legislation that Democrats want.

“The president feels that McConnell made a commitment,” said Sen.Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), who supports the fast-track measure. “And that he will honor that commitment. And that’s enough assurance for me.”

READ MORE ON CAPITAL JOURNAL

Capital Journal is WSJ.com’s home for politics, policy and national security news.

• Ted Cruz Flips on Trade Bill on Eve of Senate Vote
• Poll: Support for Free Trade Drops

A handful of Democrats are firm supporters of free trade, but others are still on the fence for a range of reasons. Some are worried that Senate leaders won't be able to fulfill their promise to ensure passage of a measure to extend a program that helps workers who suffer from production shifts overseas or import competition. Others are hoping to use this next round of votes to win concessions from leadership on related or unrelated trade measures.

Perhaps the biggest factor among these Democrats is the timing of the votes on fast-track and on related measures. Unlike in May, senators will be voting on fast-track before they vote on three other measures: the worker’s assistance extension; a bill to extend trade preferences for sub-Saharan African nations with which it is being combined; and a trade-enforcement measure.

The question is whether the pro-trade Senate Democrats are willing to go along with a fast-track vote first, and then trust Mr. McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) to make good on their promises to get the other bills through later. Previously the fast-track and workers’-assistance measures were combined, but Republicans opted for the new strategy after House Democrats sunk the entire fast-track legislation by voting against the workers’ aid piece.

“We shouldn’t let this opportunity for a significant bipartisan achievement slip past us,” Mr. McConnell said on Monday, asking the Democrats to put their faith in him. “If we can continue working together in a spirit of trust and if we simply vote the same way we did a couple of weeks ago—just vote the same way we did a couple of weeks ago—we won’t miss this opportunity.”

Another wrinkle involves a push from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.) to renew the Export-Import Bank before its charter expires June 30. Both senators had wanted such an assurance before voting for the fast-track bill, though it was unclear Monday whether they would withhold their vote without it. Ms. Cantwell declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Ms. Heitkamp said that the senator was “still looking at all options” to advance both fast-track and the workers assistance, as well as to reauthorize the Ex-Im bank.

Environmental groups and their allies in the labor movement were also attempting to stir up opposition by focusing on language added to a related trade bill that would prevent the U.S. from using new trade deals to combat climate change.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/trade-bi...ate-1435017209

http://www.alipac.us/f9/cruz-does-18...-track-320613/

'Washington broke arms and heads to get that 60th vote'

2:27 PM, Jun 23, 2015 • By DANIEL HALPER

Senator Jeff Sessions will release this statement in response to Senate's vote to advance the fast-track trade bill:
Jeff Sessions

“Americans increasingly believe that their country isn’t serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan vote of Congress that will transfer congressional power to the Executive Branch and, in turn, to a transnational Pacific Union and the global interests who will help write its rules.

"The same routine plays out over and again. We are told a massive bill must be passed, all the business lobbyists and leaders tell how grand it will be, but that it must be rushed through before the voters spoil the plan. As with Obamacare and the Gang of Eight, the politicians meet with the consultants to craft the talking points—not based on what the bill actually does, but what they hope people will believe it does. And when ordinary Americans who never asked for the plan, who don’t want the plan, who want no part of the plan, resist, they are scorned, mocked, and heaped with condescension.

"Washington broke arms and heads to get that 60th vote—not one to spare—to impose on the American people a plan which imperils their jobs, wages, and control over their own affairs. It is remarkable that so much energy has been expended on advancing the things Americans oppose, and preventing the things Americans want.

"For instance: thousands of loyal Americans have been laid off and forced to train the foreign workers brought in to fill their jobs—at Disney, at Southern California Edison, across the country. Does Washington rush to their defense? No, the politicians and the lobbyists rush to move legislation that would double or triple the very program responsible for replacing them.

"This ‘econometarian’ ideology holds that if a company can increase its bottom line —whether by insourcing foreign workers or outsourcing production—then it’s always a win, never a downside.

"President Obama, and allies in Congress, have won this fast-track vote. But, in exchange, they may find that they are losing something far greater: the trust of the American people. Americans have a fundamental, decent, and just demand: that the people they elect defend their interests. And every issue to come before us in the coming months will have to pass this test: does this strengthen, or weaken, the position of the everyday, loyal American citizen?”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/...le_976870.html

Senate Roll Call Vote on Trade

WASHINGTON — Jun 23, 2015, 1:04 PM ET
By The Associated Press

The 60-37 roll call on Tuesday by which the Senate voted to move ahead on President Barack Obama's bipartisan trade legislation.

A "yes" vote is a vote to move forward on the bill.

Voting yes were 13 Democrats and 47 Republicans.

Voting no were 30 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 2 independents.

Democrats Yes
Bennet, Colo.; Cantwell, Wash.; Carper, Del.; Coons, Del.; Feinstein, Calif.; Heitkamp, N.D.; Kaine, Va.; McCaskill, Mo.; Murray, Wash.; Nelson, Fla.; Shaheen, N.H.; Warner, Va.; Wyden, Ore.

Democrats No
Baldwin, Wis.; Blumenthal, Conn.; Booker, N.J.; Boxer, Calif.; Brown, Ohio; Cardin, Md.; Casey, Pa.; Donnelly, Ind.; Durbin, Ill.; Franken, Minn.; Gillibrand, N.Y.; Heinrich, N.M.; Hirono, Hawaii; Klobuchar, Minn.; Leahy, Vt.; Manchin, W.V.; Markey, Mass.; Merkley, Ore.; Mikulski, Md.; Murphy, Conn.; Peters, Mich.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Schatz, Hawaii; Schumer, N.Y.; Stabenow, Mich.; Tester, Mont.; Udall, N.M.; Warren, Mass.; Whitehouse, R.I.

Democrats Not Voting
Menendez, N.J.

Republicans Yes
Alexander, Tenn.; Ayotte, N.H.; Barrasso, Wyo.; Blunt, Mo.; Boozman, Ark.; Burr, N.C.; Capito, W.V.; Cassidy, La.; Coats, Ind.; Cochran, Miss.; Cornyn, Texas; Cotton, Ark.; Crapo, Idaho; Daines, Mont.; Enzi, Wyo.; Ernst, Iowa; Fischer, Neb.; Flake, Ariz.; Gardner, Colo.; Graham, S.C.; Grassley, Iowa; Hatch, Utah; Heller, Nev.; Hoeven, N.D.; Inhofe, Okla.; Isakson, Ga.; Johnson, Wis.; Kirk, Ill.; Lankford, Okla.; McCain, Ariz.; McConnell, Ky.; Moran, Kan.; Murkowski, Alaska; Perdue, Ga.; Portman, Ohio; Risch, Idaho; Roberts, Kan.; Rounds, S.D.; Rubio, Fla.; Sasse, Neb.; Scott, S.C.; Sullivan, Alaska; Thune, S.D.; Tillis, N.C.; Toomey, Pa.; Vitter, La.; Wicker, Miss.

Republicans No
Collins, Maine; Cruz, Texas; Paul, Ky.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.

Republicans Not Voting
Corker, Tenn.; Lee, Utah.

Independents No
King, Maine; Sanders, Vt.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireS...trade-31971141