Teamsters join other foes of fast-tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty in
presenting a petition to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, a key backer of TPP.
The future of President Obama's top legislative priority—the Trans-Pacific Partnership of 12 Pacific Rim nations—may well be determined in an afternoon vote Tuesday in the Senate on a motion to proceed with so-called "fast-track" legislation. Sixty affirmative votes are needed and every indication is that it will be a close call. Because of that, Obama, who has labeled the deal “the most progressive trade agreement in history,”
has spurred his aides and Cabinet members to engage in a full-court press with reluctant Democrats at dinner parties and in the hallways of Congress and the tunnels beneath the Capitol. He himself has made dozens of phone calls.
If fast-track legislation passes both the Senate and the House (where it could have even more trouble), it would mean lawmakers can give a thumbs up or down on the final trade agreement. But they wouldn't be able to amend it or filibuster it. They would also have another option after seeing the final agreement: They could take away fast-track authority and then try to amend the negotiated pact.
The president's liberal allies, including some high-profile members of the Senate, don't support the fast-track bill, formally known as Trade Promotion Authority. Opponents also include labor unions, environmental advocates and other activist groups who have opposed previous trade deals for being a "race to the bottom" without adequate protections for workers in the United States and those overseas as well as environmentally damaging. With all but a handful of Senate Republicans in favor of the bill, passage requires 10 or so Democrats.
Opponents of the bill include Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who has recently said he used to favor free trade agreements but opposes this one. He first came out against fast-track legislation for the Pacific Rim trade deal and another with the European Union in early 2014. Reid wants the fast-track bill to be tied to three other pieces of trade legislation, fast-track, Trade Adjustment Assistance, a customs enforcement bill and a package of trade preferences for African countries.
Alexander Bolton reports:
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, one of seven Democrats to vote for fast-track in the Finance Committee last month, said Monday afternoon he would not vote to end debate on the motion to proceed to trade legislation unless all four bills are combined.
He said the Democratic caucus is unified on the question, kicking the ball back into McConnell’s court.
Hatch and other Republicans do not want to tie the customs enforcement bill to fast-track because it includes controversial language penalizing trading partners that engage in currency manipulation.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has found himself in the uncomfortable position of being President Obama's ally on fast-track legislation, was, at least on Monday night, opposed to combining the four trade bills into a single piece of legislation. if that doesn't happen or some other arrangement isn't crafted, we may witness the unusual spectacle of Democrats attempting to filibuster against a Democratic president. If that's what it takes to halt a deal some of whose publicly known elements are anything but progressive, so be it.