McConnell wants to pass trade bills this week
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Monday that he wants to wrap up work on two trade bills before the Senate leaves for a week-long recess, pressing senators to have “a little more trust.”
“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,” the Republican leader said from the Senate floor.
{mosads}The Senate is expected to take a procedural vote on agreeing to a House-passed trade promotion authority (TPA) bill on Tuesday. Under McConnell’s plan, a separate trade adjustment assistance (TAA) measure is being added to a trade preferences bill that the Senate will take up on Wednesday.
The Kentucky Republican said it is his intention that both proposals reach President Obama’s desk before lawmakers leave at the end of the week.
“I don’t want anyone to think that we’re getting TPA done this week with a promise to get TAA done at some other time,” he added. “With just a little more trust, a little more cooperation and simply voting consistently, we’ll get there.”
McConnell has tried to pressure Democrats to vote the same way they did last month, when the Senate passed a trade bill that included both TPA and TAA.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has helped guide trade through the Senate, backed McConnell’s efforts on Monday, saying that he’s “held round-the-clock discussions” with the Kentucky Republican, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other key Democrats.
McConnell also said that he plans to move a customs and trade enforcement bill to conference this week, adding that he is “committed to concluding work on that conference as quickly as possible.”
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