A “fast track” trade bill that has deeply divided congressional lawmakers cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, overcoming significant bipartisan opposition.
The Trade Promotion Authority measure won 62 votes, enough required to end debate, essentially putting the bill on a path to passage as early as Thursday.Thirty-eight lawmakers voted no.
The measure would give President Obama and future presidents expanded power to sign international trade pacts that can’t be amended by Congress, including a critical deal now pending with 11 Pacific Rim nations.
The hotly contested measure has divided both Republicans and Democrats, mostly by region, with lawmakers from manufacturing states leading the charge to reject the bill unless it is amended with strong trade enforcement language.
Still, it mostly split Democrats. Of the 38 “no” votes, only five were Republicans, and 33 were Democrats, reflecting the deep split within Obama’s party over whether to give the president trade negotiating authority.
Republicans voting against the bill were Sens. Susan Collins, Maine; Mike Lee, Utah; Rand Paul, Ky.; Jeff Sessions, Ala.; and Richard Shelby, Ala.
Opponents of the legislation on Thursday protested the vote to end debate, which cut off time to include additional amendments beyond the half-dozen provisions that will get a vote later this week.
The Senate is scheduled to adjourn for a week-long recess at the end of the week and must consider other critical legislation before leaving, including an extension of both highway funding authorization and an anti-terrorism surveillance law.
But Democrats demanded more time to debate the trade bill.
“I hope my colleagues recognize the importance of getting fast-track legislation right, not getting it done by Memorial Day, some artificial deadline that somebody somewhere said, but getting this trade legislation right,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “The Senate has not given the bill the attention and deliberation it deserves.”
Before the vote, Brown offered a deal to GOP leaders that would allow 20 amendments from each party. But Sen Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a proponent of the trade bill, said Democrats had already delayed action by objecting to an earlier start to the debate.
Debate time was also condensed thanks to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who commandeered nearly 11 hours of floor time beginning yesterday to talk in opposition to legislation that would extend a federal surveillance law.
“There have been logjams all the way through,” Hatch said.
Sen. Sessions, a leading GOP opponent, said the bill will speed up trade deals that hurt U.S. jobs thanks to currency manipulation by foreign countries, a practice that makes it harder for the United States to sell its products overseas.
“Our competitors manipulate their currency to make their products cheaper and they penetrate our market and close American businesses as a result,” Sessions said during closing debate.
Proponents pushed ahead on the legislation, saying it is essential to opening up foreign markets by replacing outdated trade laws with new regulations that would make it easier for America to sell goods abroad.
“There is enormous affection around the world for buying the American brand,” Sen Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a top trade bill sponsor, said. “With modern trade rules, we can make sure that our exporters are able to get the kinds of goods and serves that those billions of middle class consumers are going to want to buy.”
