House clears key trade bill for president

The House voted 286-138 Thursday to renew a 50-year-old worker entitlement program with overwhelming support from Democrats, who reversed themselves on the legislation after losing a battle with the White House and Republicans over a bill to “fast-track” approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

“If American workers are going to have the rugs pulled out from under them because of trade deals, something should be there to break their fall,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) said during floor debate. “The sad reality is that we need [Trade Adjustment Assistance], and even the sadder reality is that despite the great need, this TAA bill before us today is inadequate.”


The Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides retraining for workers who have lost their jobs because of trade, was packaged with a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and two other programs to help Haiti and more than 120 developing countries sell their goods to the United States.

The vote sends the bill to President Barack Obama to sign into law. Democrats have traditionally provided the bulk of support for the Kennedy-era TAA program, but they opposed it in droves in an initial vote two weeks ago when it was packaged with trade promotion authority bill that most in the party oppose.

After that “snafu,” as White House spokesman Josh Earnest called it, Republican leaders proceeded with a stand-alone fast track bill, which passed 218-208 with 28 Democrats voting yes. The Senate approved that bill Wednesday 60-38, sending it to Obama to sign in the coming weeks. The fast track bill will allow the president to send the Asia-Pacific agreement and other trade deals to Congress for up-or-down votes, shielding them from amendments.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she would vote for the worker retraining program earlier Thursday, adding that it was time to move on to the debate on the Asia-Pacific trade deal.

“We go forward with a bright spotlight on TPP,” the California Democrat said.

The House’s action Thursday brings months of contentious congressional debate over trade nearly to a close, but lawmakers still have one big piece of unfinished business: a bill to reform and improve customs and enforcement procedures that has passed both chambers in slightly different forms.

That bill also contains changes to the fast-track bill, which is awaiting Obama’s signature. Those include a Senate Finance Committee provision which would bar the fast track procedures for any trade deals that include countries listed in the worst category of the State Department’s annual human-trafficking report. The language endangers expedited congressional approval of the trans-Pacific trade agreement because Malaysia, one of the 12 countries involved in those talks, was on the State Department’s worst-offenders list last year.

The Obama administration helped negotiate a compromise with the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Robert Menendez, that would allow the president to waive the provision if Malaysia agrees to take concrete steps to implement State Department recommendations. However, bill backers were unable to insert the provision during Senate debate on the fast track bill, so it was incorporated in the House version of the customs bill as the most expedient path to approval.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act, which Congress first passed in 2000, provides duty-free treatment for oil, clothing and many other goods from 39 currently eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is set to expire at the end of the September, threatening continued U.S. investment on the continent if the program isn’t quickly renewed.

“Over the next 10 years, Africa will become an even more important part of the world economy, with a large youthful population that is increasing university-educated, tech-savvy and entrepreneurial,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) said. “Without question, it is the interest of the United States and the countries that we work toward a stronger and mutually beneficial economic relationship.”

The bill also reauthorizes the Generalized System of Preferences, which has been expired for two years. That program provides duty-free treatment of exports from more than 120 countries and territories, including Brazil, India, Indonesia and Egypt and many much poorer countries. A special program for Haiti, known as the HOPE Act, will also be renewed under the bill. In addition, the legislation contains a provision sought by the steel industry to make it easier to win duties on unfairly priced imports.

Two weeks ago, the AFL-CIO urged Democrats to oppose reauthorizing the worker retraining program in an effort to defeat trade promotion authority and prevent the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But the group reconsidered its position after it became clear Congress would pass the fast track trade bill. The AFL-CIO said it still believed the TAA bill was flawed and inadequately funded, but the group would not urge members to oppose the legislation and defeat the Africa trade preference provisions.