ID :
199127
Thu, 08/04/2011 - 12:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199127
The shortlink copeid
U.S. Senate moves forward to pass FTA with S. Korea
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- U.S. congressional leaders on Wednesday announced a breakthrough in efforts to pass the free trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
The Democrats and the Republicans in the Senate agreed to a "path forward" to handle the issue of renewing the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and implementing bills on the three free trade agreements (FTAs) when Congress returns after a summer break on Sept. 6, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
Disputes over the TAA, aimed at supporting workers displaced by trade, were a key sticking point in President Barack Obama's push for the ratification of the FTAs before recess.
Obama sought to couple the TAA with the FTA with South Korea, but Republican members of Congress strongly opposed the extension of the US$1 billion-a-year TAA.
"My staff and (Senate Republican Leader Mitch) McConnell's staff have been in discussions for weeks over the Trade Adjustment Assistance program and the three outstanding FTAs," Reid said in a statement.
"We believe those discussions have provided a path forward in the Senate after we return for passage of the bipartisan compromise on the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, followed by passage of the three FTAs," he added.
The senator did not elaborate, but his comments indicated an agreement in the Democrat-controlled Senate to deal with the TAA and the FTAs separately. Reid's statement raised hopes of the ratification of the FTAs, signed several years ago, in the September session.
In a separate press statement, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, urged Obama to ride on the breakthrough.
"With a clear path forward in the Senate, the President must halt any efforts to include Trade Adjustment Assistance as part of the largest trade agreement negotiated in more than a decade. This would be a misguided approach that would ultimately put the Korean FTA at serious risk," he said. "It's now time for the President to act and submit the pending trade agreements to Congress as soon as possible."
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) also welcomed the deal reached by Reid and McConnell but made clear that his party wants a separate approach toward the TAA and the FTAs.
"I look forward to the House passing the FTAs, in tandem with separate consideration of TAA legislation, as soon as possible," Boehner said in a statement.
The Democrats and the Republicans in the Senate agreed to a "path forward" to handle the issue of renewing the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and implementing bills on the three free trade agreements (FTAs) when Congress returns after a summer break on Sept. 6, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
Disputes over the TAA, aimed at supporting workers displaced by trade, were a key sticking point in President Barack Obama's push for the ratification of the FTAs before recess.
Obama sought to couple the TAA with the FTA with South Korea, but Republican members of Congress strongly opposed the extension of the US$1 billion-a-year TAA.
"My staff and (Senate Republican Leader Mitch) McConnell's staff have been in discussions for weeks over the Trade Adjustment Assistance program and the three outstanding FTAs," Reid said in a statement.
"We believe those discussions have provided a path forward in the Senate after we return for passage of the bipartisan compromise on the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, followed by passage of the three FTAs," he added.
The senator did not elaborate, but his comments indicated an agreement in the Democrat-controlled Senate to deal with the TAA and the FTAs separately. Reid's statement raised hopes of the ratification of the FTAs, signed several years ago, in the September session.
In a separate press statement, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, urged Obama to ride on the breakthrough.
"With a clear path forward in the Senate, the President must halt any efforts to include Trade Adjustment Assistance as part of the largest trade agreement negotiated in more than a decade. This would be a misguided approach that would ultimately put the Korean FTA at serious risk," he said. "It's now time for the President to act and submit the pending trade agreements to Congress as soon as possible."
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) also welcomed the deal reached by Reid and McConnell but made clear that his party wants a separate approach toward the TAA and the FTAs.
"I look forward to the House passing the FTAs, in tandem with separate consideration of TAA legislation, as soon as possible," Boehner said in a statement.
