It Appears There's A Poison Pill In The TPA Bill

There may have been a poison pill in the fast-track trade bill



Trade Promotion Authority, the legislation that is considered essential for trade deals to make it through Congress, cleared the Senate Finance Committee late last night after many hours of debate over hundreds of proposed amendments. One of them, little noticed at the time, could throw a big wrench in the process going forward.

Snip

Going forward, the Senate could strip out the amendment on the floor. Or, Trade Promotion Authority could pass with the amendment intact, and the Trans Pacific Partnership would have to go through regular order in Congress, which would make the deal very difficult to conclude given the opposition by so many Democrats. Finally, the U.S. government could pressure Malaysia to not sign the trade treaty until it comes into compliance with human trafficking regulations, which would allow the deal to be fast tracked.

Snip

"I would be shocked if the committee, having had a bipartisan vote, and the Senate having had a 99-0 vote on the human trafficking bill that absorbed so much time, would try to strip it out," Menendez said. "I think there would be strong opposition to any such attempts."

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who has been a strident opponent of Trade Promotion Authority and offered scores of amendments to the bill, said the issue of Malaysia should hold up the treaty.


For its part, the White House -- which is strongly backing TPA -- argued that allowing Malaysia to join the trade agreement would be a better way of incentivizing it to crack down on human trafficking.

Snip



http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/23/there-may-have-been-a-poison-pill-in-the-fast-track-trade-legislation/