[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 98 (Thursday, June 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H4507-H4525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1115
DEFENDING PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT ACT
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 321,
I call up the bill (H.R. 2146) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 to allow Federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, and air
traffic controllers to make penalty-free withdrawals from governmental
plans after age 50, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment
thereto, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Womack). The Clerk will designate the
Senate amendment.
Senate amendment:
On page 3, strike lines 9 through 11 and insert the
following:
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to distributions after December 31, 2015.
Motion Offered by Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the motion.
The text of the motion is as follows:
Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin moves that the House concur in the
Senate amendment to H.R. 2146 with the amendment printed in
House Report 114-167.
The text of the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the text
is as follows:
At the end of the Senate amendment, add the following:
TITLE I--TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''.
SEC. 102. TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES.
(a) Overall Trade Negotiating Objectives.--The overall
trade negotiating objectives of the United States for
agreements subject to the provisions of section 103 are--
(1) to obtain more open, equitable, and reciprocal market
access;
(2) to obtain the reduction or elimination of barriers and
distortions that are directly related to trade and investment
and that decrease market opportunities for United States
exports or otherwise distort United States trade;
(3) to further strengthen the system of international trade
and investment disciplines and procedures, including dispute
settlement;
(4) to foster economic growth, raise living standards,
enhance the competitiveness of the United States, promote
full employment in the United States, and enhance the global
economy;
(5) to ensure that trade and environmental policies are
mutually supportive and to seek to protect and preserve the
environment and enhance the international means of doing so,
while optimizing the use of the world's resources;
(6) to promote respect for worker rights and the rights of
children consistent with core labor standards of the ILO (as
set out in section 111(7)) and an understanding of the
relationship between trade and worker rights;
(7) to seek provisions in trade agreements under which
parties to those agreements ensure that they do not weaken or
reduce the protections afforded in domestic environmental and
labor laws as an encouragement for trade;
(8) to ensure that trade agreements afford small businesses
equal access to international markets, equitable trade
benefits, and expanded export market opportunities, and
provide for the reduction or elimination of trade and
investment barriers that disproportionately impact small
businesses;
(9) to promote universal ratification and full compliance
with ILO Convention No. 182 Concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of
Child Labor;
(10) to ensure that trade agreements reflect and facilitate
the increasingly interrelated, multi-sectoral nature of trade
and investment activity;
(11) to recognize the growing significance of the Internet
as a trading platform in international commerce;
(12) to take into account other legitimate United States
domestic objectives, including, but not limited to, the
protection of legitimate health or safety, essential
security, and consumer interests and the law and regulations
related thereto; and
(13) to take into account conditions relating to religious
freedom of any party to negotiations for a trade agreement
with the United States.
(b) Principal Trade Negotiating Objectives.--
(1) Trade in goods.--The principal negotiating objectives
of the United States regarding trade in goods are--
(A) to expand competitive market opportunities for exports
of goods from the United States and to obtain fairer and more
open conditions of trade, including through the utilization
of global value chains, by reducing or eliminating tariff and
nontariff barriers and policies and practices of foreign
governments directly related to trade that decrease market
opportunities for United States exports or otherwise distort
United States trade; and
(B) to obtain reciprocal tariff and nontariff barrier
elimination agreements, including with respect to those
tariff categories covered in section 111(b) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)).
(2) Trade in services.--(A) The principal negotiating
objective of the United States regarding trade in services is
to expand competitive market opportunities for United States
services and to obtain fairer and more open conditions of
trade, including through utilization of global value chains,
by reducing or eliminating barriers to international trade in
services, such as regulatory and other barriers that deny
national treatment and market access or unreasonably restrict
the establishment or operations of service suppliers.
(B) Recognizing that expansion of trade in services
generates benefits for all sectors of the economy and
facilitates trade, the objective described in subparagraph
(A) should be pursued through all means, including through a
plurilateral agreement with those countries willing and able
to undertake high standard services commitments for both
existing and new services.
(3) Trade in agriculture.--The principal negotiating
objective of the United States with respect to agriculture is
to obtain competitive opportunities for United States exports
of agricultural commodities in foreign markets substantially
equivalent to the competitive opportunities afforded foreign
exports in United States markets and to achieve fairer and
more open conditions of trade in bulk, specialty crop, and
value added commodities by--
(A) securing more open and equitable market access through
robust rules on sanitary and phytosanitary measures that--
(i) encourage the adoption of international standards and
require a science-based justification be provided for a
sanitary or phytosanitary measure if the measure is more
restrictive than the applicable international standard;
(ii) improve regulatory coherence, promote the use of
systems-based approaches, and appropriately recognize the
equivalence of health and safety protection systems of
exporting countries;
(iii) require that measures are transparently developed and
implemented, are based on risk assessments that take into
account relevant international guidelines and scientific
data, and are not more restrictive
[[Page H4508]]
on trade than necessary to meet the intended purpose; and
(iv) improve import check processes, including testing
methodologies and procedures, and certification requirements,
while recognizing that countries may put in place measures to
protect human, animal, or plant life or health in a manner
consistent with their international obligations, including
the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures (referred to in section 101(d)(3) of
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(3)));
(B) reducing or eliminating, by a date certain, tariffs or
other charges that decrease market opportunities for United
States exports--
(i) giving priority to those products that are subject to
significantly higher tariffs or subsidy regimes of major
producing countries; and
(ii) providing reasonable adjustment periods for United
States import sensitive products, in close consultation with
Congress on such products before initiating tariff reduction
negotiations;
(C) reducing tariffs to levels that are the same as or
lower than those in the United States;
(D) reducing or eliminating subsidies that decrease market
opportunities for United States exports or unfairly distort
agriculture markets to the detriment of the United States;
(E) allowing the preservation of programs that support
family farms and rural communities but do not distort trade;
(F) developing disciplines for domestic support programs,
so that production that is in excess of domestic food
security needs is sold at world prices;
(G) eliminating government policies that create price
depressing surpluses;
(H) eliminating state trading enterprises whenever
possible;
(I) developing, strengthening, and clarifying rules to
eliminate practices that unfairly decrease United States
market access opportunities or distort agricultural markets
to the detriment of the United States, and ensuring that such
rules are subject to efficient, timely, and effective dispute
settlement, including--
(i) unfair or trade distorting activities of state trading
enterprises and other administrative mechanisms, with
emphasis on requiring price transparency in the operation of
state trading enterprises and such other mechanisms in order
to end cross subsidization, price discrimination, and price
undercutting;
(ii) unjustified trade restrictions or commercial
requirements, such as labeling, that affect new technologies,
including biotechnology;
(iii) unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary restrictions,
including restrictions not based on scientific principles in
contravention of obligations in the Uruguay Round Agreements
or bilateral or regional trade agreements;
(iv) other unjustified technical barriers to trade; and
(v) restrictive rules in the administration of tariff rate
quotas;
(J) eliminating practices that adversely affect trade in
perishable or cyclical products, while improving import
relief mechanisms to recognize the unique characteristics of
perishable and cyclical agriculture;
(K) ensuring that import relief mechanisms for perishable
and cyclical agriculture are as accessible and timely to
growers in the United States as those mechanisms that are
used by other countries;
(L) taking into account whether a party to the negotiations
has failed to adhere to the provisions of already existing
trade agreements with the United States or has circumvented
obligations under those agreements;
(M) taking into account whether a product is subject to
market distortions by reason of a failure of a major
producing country to adhere to the provisions of already
existing trade agreements with the United States or by the
circumvention by that country of its obligations under those
agreements;
(N) otherwise ensuring that countries that accede to the
World Trade Organization have made meaningful market
liberalization commitments in agriculture;
(O) taking into account the impact that agreements covering
agriculture to which the United States is a party have on the
United States agricultural industry;
(P) maintaining bona fide food assistance programs, market
development programs, and export credit programs;
(Q) seeking to secure the broadest market access possible
in multilateral, regional, and bilateral negotiations,
recognizing the effect that simultaneous sets of negotiations
may have on United States import sensitive commodities
(including those subject to tariff rate quotas);
(R) seeking to develop an international consensus on the
treatment of seasonal or perishable agricultural products in
investigations relating to dumping and safeguards and in any
other relevant area;
(S) seeking to establish the common base year for
calculating the Aggregated Measurement of Support (as defined
in the Agreement on Agriculture) as the end of each country's
Uruguay Round implementation period, as reported in each
country's Uruguay Round market access schedule;
(T) ensuring transparency in the administration of tariff
rate quotas through multilateral, plurilateral, and bilateral
negotiations; and
(U) eliminating and preventing the undermining of market
access for United States products through improper use of a
country's system for protecting or recognizing geographical
indications, including failing to ensure transparency and
procedural fairness and protecting generic terms.
(4) Foreign investment.--Recognizing that United States law
on the whole provides a high level of protection for
investment, consistent with or greater than the level
required by international law, the principal negotiating
objectives of the United States regarding foreign investment
are to reduce or eliminate artificial or trade distorting
barriers to foreign investment, while ensuring that foreign
investors in the United States are not accorded greater
substantive rights with respect to investment protections
than United States investors in the United States, and to
secure for investors important rights comparable to those
that would be available under United States legal principles
and practice, by--
(A) reducing or eliminating exceptions to the principle of
national treatment;
(B) freeing the transfer of funds relating to investments;
(C) reducing or eliminating performance requirements,
forced technology transfers, and other unreasonable barriers
to the establishment and operation of investments;
(D) seeking to establish standards for expropriation and
compensation for expropriation, consistent with United States
legal principles and practice;
(E) seeking to establish standards for fair and equitable
treatment, consistent with United States legal principles and
practice, including the principle of due process;
(F) providing meaningful procedures for resolving
investment disputes;
(G) seeking to improve mechanisms used to resolve disputes
between an investor and a government through--
(i) mechanisms to eliminate frivolous claims and to deter
the filing of frivolous claims;
(ii) procedures to ensure the efficient selection of
arbitrators and the expeditious disposition of claims;
(iii) procedures to enhance opportunities for public input
into the formulation of government positions; and
(iv) providing for an appellate body or similar mechanism
to provide coherence to the interpretations of investment
provisions in trade agreements; and
(H) ensuring the fullest measure of transparency in the
dispute settlement mechanism, to the extent consistent with
the need to protect information that is classified or
business confidential, by--
(i) ensuring that all requests for dispute settlement are
promptly made public;
(ii) ensuring that--
(I) all proceedings, submissions, findings, and decisions
are promptly made public; and
(II) all hearings are open to the public; and
(iii) establishing a mechanism for acceptance of amicus
curiae submissions from businesses, unions, and
nongovernmental organizations.
(5) Intellectual property.--The principal negotiating
objectives of the United States regarding trade-related
intellectual property are--
(A) to further promote adequate and effective protection of
intellectual property rights, including through--
(i)(I) ensuring accelerated and full implementation of the
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights referred to in section 101(d)(15) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(15)), particularly with
respect to meeting enforcement obligations under that
agreement; and
(II) ensuring that the provisions of any trade agreement
governing intellectual property rights that is entered into
by the United States reflect a standard of protection similar
to that found in United States law;
(ii) providing strong protection for new and emerging
technologies and new methods of transmitting and distributing
products embodying intellectual property, including in a
manner that facilitates legitimate digital trade;
(iii) preventing or eliminating discrimination with respect
to matters affecting the availability, acquisition, scope,
maintenance, use, and enforcement of intellectual property
rights;
(iv) ensuring that standards of protection and enforcement
keep pace with technological developments, and in particular
ensuring that rightholders have the legal and technological
means to control the use of their works through the Internet
and other global communication media, and to prevent the
unauthorized use of their works;
(v) providing strong enforcement of intellectual property
rights, including through accessible, expeditious, and
effective civil, administrative, and criminal enforcement
mechanisms; and
(vi) preventing or eliminating government involvement in
the violation of intellectual property rights, including
cyber theft and piracy;
(B) to secure fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory market
access opportunities for United States persons that rely upon
intellectual property protection; and
(C) to respect the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and
Public Health, adopted by the World Trade Organization at the
Fourth Ministerial Conference at Doha, Qatar on November 14,
2001, and to ensure
[[Page H4509]]
that trade agreements foster innovation and promote access to
medicines.
(6) Digital trade in goods and services and cross-border
data flows.--The principal negotiating objectives of the
United States with respect to digital trade in goods and
services, as well as cross-border data flows, are--
(A) to ensure that current obligations, rules, disciplines,
and commitments under the World Trade Organization and
bilateral and regional trade agreements apply to digital
trade in goods and services and to cross-border data flows;
(B) to ensure that--
(i) electronically delivered goods and services receive no
less favorable treatment under trade rules and commitments
than like products delivered in physical form; and
(ii) the classification of such goods and services ensures
the most liberal trade treatment possible, fully encompassing
both existing and new trade;
(C) to ensure that governments refrain from implementing
trade-related measures that impede digital trade in goods and
services, restrict cross-border data flows, or require local
storage or processing of data;
(D) with respect to subparagraphs (A) through (C), where
legitimate policy objectives require domestic regulations
that affect digital trade in goods and services or cross-
border data flows, to obtain commitments that any such
regulations are the least restrictive on trade,
nondiscriminatory, and transparent, and promote an open
market environment; and
(E) to extend the moratorium of the World Trade
Organization on duties on electronic transmissions.
(7) Regulatory practices.--The principal negotiating
objectives of the United States regarding the use of
government regulation or other practices to reduce market
access for United States goods, services, and investments
are--
(A) to achieve increased transparency and opportunity for
the participation of affected parties in the development of
regulations;
(B) to require that proposed regulations be based on sound
science, cost benefit analysis, risk assessment, or other
objective evidence;
(C) to establish consultative mechanisms and seek other
commitments, as appropriate, to improve regulatory practices
and promote increased regulatory coherence, including
through--
(i) transparency in developing guidelines, rules,
regulations, and laws for government procurement and other
regulatory regimes;
(ii) the elimination of redundancies in testing and
certification;
(iii) early consultations on significant regulations;
(iv) the use of impact assessments;
(v) the periodic review of existing regulatory measures;
and
(vi) the application of good regulatory practices;
(D) to seek greater openness, transparency, and convergence
of standards development processes, and enhance cooperation
on standards issues globally;
(E) to promote regulatory compatibility through
harmonization, equivalence, or mutual recognition of
different regulations and standards and to encourage the use
of international and interoperable standards, as appropriate;
(F) to achieve the elimination of government measures such
as price controls and reference pricing which deny full
market access for United States products;
(G) to ensure that government regulatory reimbursement
regimes are transparent, provide procedural fairness, are
nondiscriminatory, and provide full market access for United
States products; and
(H) to ensure that foreign governments--
(i) demonstrate that the collection of undisclosed
proprietary information is limited to that necessary to
satisfy a legitimate and justifiable regulatory interest; and
(ii) protect such information against disclosure, except in
exceptional circumstances to protect the public, or where
such information is effectively protected against unfair
competition.
(8) State-owned and state-controlled enterprises.--The
principal negotiating objective of the United States
regarding competition by state-owned and state-controlled
enterprises is to seek commitments that--
(A) eliminate or prevent trade distortions and unfair
competition favoring state-owned and state-controlled
enterprises to the extent of their engagement in commercial
activity, and
(B) ensure that such engagement is based solely on
commercial considerations,
in particular through disciplines that eliminate or prevent
discrimination and market-distorting subsidies and that
promote transparency.
(9) Localization barriers to trade.--The principal
negotiating objective of the United States with respect to
localization barriers is to eliminate and prevent measures
that require United States producers and service providers to
locate facilities, intellectual property, or other assets in
a country as a market access or investment condition,
including indigenous innovation measures.
(10) Labor and the environment.--The principal negotiating
objectives of the United States with respect to labor and the
environment are--
(A) to ensure that a party to a trade agreement with the
United States--
(i) adopts and maintains measures implementing
internationally recognized core labor standards (as defined
in section 111(17)) and its obligations under common
multilateral environmental agreements (as defined in section
111(6)),
(ii) does not waive or otherwise derogate from, or offer to
waive or otherwise derogate from--
(I) its statutes or regulations implementing
internationally recognized core labor standards (as defined
in section 111(17)), in a manner affecting trade or
investment between the United States and that party, where
the waiver or derogation would be inconsistent with one or
more such standards, or
(II) its environmental laws in a manner that weakens or
reduces the protections afforded in those laws and in a
manner affecting trade or investment between the United
States and that party, except as provided in its law and
provided not inconsistent with its obligations under common
multilateral environmental agreements (as defined in section
111(6)) or other provisions of the trade agreement
specifically agreed upon, and
(iii) does not fail to effectively enforce its
environmental or labor laws, through a sustained or recurring
course of action or inaction,
in a manner affecting trade or investment between the United
States and that party after entry into force of a trade
agreement between those countries;
(B) to recognize that--
(i) with respect to environment, parties to a trade
agreement retain the right to exercise prosecutorial
discretion and to make decisions regarding the allocation of
enforcement resources with respect to other environmental
laws determined to have higher priorities, and a party is
effectively enforcing its laws if a course of action or
inaction reflects a reasonable, bona fide exercise of such
discretion, or results from a reasonable, bona fide decision
regarding the allocation of resources; and
(ii) with respect to labor, decisions regarding the
distribution of enforcement resources are not a reason for
not complying with a party's labor obligations; a party to a
trade agreement retains the right to reasonable exercise of
discretion and to make bona fide decisions regarding the
allocation of resources between labor enforcement activities
among core labor standards, provided the exercise of such
discretion and such decisions are not inconsistent with its
obligations;
(C) to strengthen the capacity of United States trading
partners to promote respect for core labor standards (as
defined in section 111(7));
(D) to strengthen the capacity of United States trading
partners to protect the environment through the promotion of
sustainable development;
(E) to reduce or eliminate government practices or policies
that unduly threaten sustainable development;
(F) to seek market access, through the elimination of
tariffs and nontariff barriers, for United States
environmental technologies, goods, and services;
(G) to ensure that labor, environmental, health, or safety
policies and practices of the parties to trade agreements
with the United States do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably
discriminate against United States exports or serve as
disguised barriers to trade;
(H) to ensure that enforceable labor and environment
obligations are subject to the same dispute settlement and
remedies as other enforceable obligations under the
agreement; and
(I) to ensure that a trade agreement is not construed to
empower a party's authorities to undertake labor or
environmental law enforcement activities in the territory of
the United States.
(11) Currency.--The principal negotiating objective of the
United States with respect to currency practices is that
parties to a trade agreement with the United States avoid
manipulating exchange rates in order to prevent effective
balance of payments adjustment or to gain an unfair
competitive advantage over other parties to the agreement,
such as through cooperative mechanisms, enforceable rules,
reporting, monitoring, transparency, or other means, as
appropriate.
(12) Foreign currency manipulation.--The principal
negotiating objective of the United States with respect to
unfair currency practices is to seek to establish
accountability through enforceable rules, transparency,
reporting, monitoring, cooperative mechanisms, or other means
to address exchange rate manipulation involving protracted
large scale intervention in one direction in the exchange
markets and a persistently undervalued foreign exchange rate
to gain an unfair competitive advantage in trade over other
parties to a trade agreement, consistent with existing
obligations of the United States as a member of the
International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
(13) WTO and multilateral trade agreements.--Recognizing
that the World Trade Organization is the foundation of the
global trading system, the principal negotiating objectives
of the United States regarding the World Trade Organization,
the Uruguay Round Agreements, and other multilateral and
plurilateral trade agreements are--
(A) to achieve full implementation and extend the coverage
of the World Trade Organization and multilateral and
plurilateral agreements to products, sectors, and conditions
of trade not adequately covered;
(B) to expand country participation in and enhancement of
the Information Technology
[[Page H4510]]
Agreement, the Government Procurement Agreement, and other
plurilateral trade agreements of the World Trade
Organization;
(C) to expand competitive market opportunities for United
States exports and to obtain fairer and more open conditions
of trade, including through utilization of global value
chains, through the negotiation of new WTO multilateral and
plurilateral trade agreements, such as an agreement on trade
facilitation;
(D) to ensure that regional trade agreements to which the
United States is not a party fully achieve the high standards
of, and comply with, WTO disciplines, including Article XXIV
of GATT 1994, Article V and V bis of the General Agreement on
Trade in Services, and the Enabling Clause, including through
meaningful WTO review of such regional trade agreements;
(E) to enhance compliance by WTO members with their
obligations as WTO members through active participation in
the bodies of the World Trade Organization by the United
States and all other WTO members, including in the trade
policy review mechanism and the committee system of the World
Trade Organization, and by working to increase the
effectiveness of such bodies; and
(F) to encourage greater cooperation between the World
Trade Organization and other international organizations.
(14) Trade institution transparency.--The principal
negotiating objective of the United States with respect to
transparency is to obtain wider and broader application of
the principle of transparency in the World Trade
Organization, entities established under bilateral and
regional trade agreements, and other international trade fora
through seeking--
(A) timely public access to information regarding trade
issues and the activities of such institutions;
(B) openness by ensuring public access to appropriate
meetings, proceedings, and submissions, including with regard
to trade and investment dispute settlement; and
(C) public access to all notifications and supporting
documentation submitted by WTO members.
(15) Anti-corruption.--The principal negotiating objectives
of the United States with respect to the use of money or
other things of value to influence acts, decisions, or
omissions of foreign governments or officials or to secure
any improper advantage in a manner affecting trade are--
(A) to obtain high standards and effective domestic
enforcement mechanisms applicable to persons from all
countries participating in the applicable trade agreement
that prohibit such attempts to influence acts, decisions, or
omissions of foreign governments or officials or to secure
any such improper advantage;
(B) to ensure that such standards level the playing field
for United States persons in international trade and
investment; and
(C) to seek commitments to work jointly to encourage and
support anti-corruption and anti-bribery initiatives in
international trade fora, including through the Convention on
Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in
International Business Transactions of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, done at Paris December
17, 1997 (commonly known as the ``OECD Anti-Bribery
Convention'').
(16) Dispute settlement and enforcement.--The principal
negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to
dispute settlement and enforcement of trade agreements are--
(A) to seek provisions in trade agreements providing for
resolution of disputes between governments under those trade
agreements in an effective, timely, transparent, equitable,
and reasoned manner, requiring determinations based on facts
and the principles of the agreements, with the goal of
increasing compliance with the agreements;
(B) to seek to strengthen the capacity of the Trade Policy
Review Mechanism of the World Trade Organization to review
compliance with commitments;
(C) to seek adherence by panels convened under the Dispute
Settlement Understanding and by the Appellate Body to--
(i) the mandate of those panels and the Appellate Body to
apply the WTO Agreement as written, without adding to or
diminishing rights and obligations under the Agreement; and
(ii) the standard of review applicable under the Uruguay
Round Agreement involved in the dispute, including greater
deference, where appropriate, to the fact finding and
technical expertise of national investigating authorities;
(D) to seek provisions encouraging the early identification
and settlement of disputes through consultation;
(E) to seek provisions to encourage the provision of trade-
expanding compensation if a party to a dispute under the
agreement does not come into compliance with its obligations
under the agreement;
(F) to seek provisions to impose a penalty upon a party to
a dispute under the agreement that--
(i) encourages compliance with the obligations of the
agreement;
(ii) is appropriate to the parties, nature, subject matter,
and scope of the violation; and
(iii) has the aim of not adversely affecting parties or
interests not party to the dispute while maintaining the
effectiveness of the enforcement mechanism; and
(G) to seek provisions that treat United States principal
negotiating objectives equally with respect to--
(i) the ability to resort to dispute settlement under the
applicable agreement;
(ii) the availability of equivalent dispute settlement
procedures; and
(iii) the availability of equivalent remedies.
(17) Trade remedy laws.--The principal negotiating
objectives of the United States with respect to trade remedy
laws are--
(A) to preserve the ability of the United States to enforce
rigorously its trade laws, including the antidumping,
countervailing duty, and safeguard laws, and avoid agreements
that lessen the effectiveness of domestic and international
disciplines on unfair trade, especially dumping and
subsidies, or that lessen the effectiveness of domestic and
international safeguard provisions, in order to ensure that
United States workers, agricultural producers, and firms can
compete fully on fair terms and enjoy the benefits of
reciprocal trade concessions; and
(B) to address and remedy market distortions that lead to
dumping and subsidization, including overcapacity,
cartelization, and market access barriers.
(18) Border taxes.--The principal negotiating objective of
the United States regarding border taxes is to obtain a
revision of the rules of the World Trade Organization with
respect to the treatment of border adjustments for internal
taxes to redress the disadvantage to countries relying
primarily on direct taxes for revenue rather than indirect
taxes.
(19) Textile negotiations.--The principal negotiating
objectives of the United States with respect to trade in
textiles and apparel articles are to obtain competitive
opportunities for United States exports of textiles and
apparel in foreign markets substantially equivalent to the
competitive opportunities afforded foreign exports in United
States markets and to achieve fairer and more open conditions
of trade in textiles and apparel.
(20) Commercial partnerships.--
(A) In general.--With respect to an agreement that is
proposed to be entered into with the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership countries and to which section 103(b)
will apply, the principal negotiating objectives of the
United States regarding commercial partnerships are the
following:
(i) To discourage actions by potential trading partners
that directly or indirectly prejudice or otherwise discourage
commercial activity solely between the United States and
Israel.
(ii) To discourage politically motivated actions to
boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel and to seek the
elimination of politically motivated nontariff barriers on
Israeli goods, services, or other commerce imposed on the
State of Israel.
(iii) To seek the elimination of state-sponsored
unsanctioned foreign boycotts against Israel or compliance
with the Arab League Boycott of Israel by prospective trading
partners.
(B) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term ``actions to
boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel'' means actions by
states, non-member states of the United Nations,
international organizations, or affiliated agencies of
international organizations that are politically motivated
and are intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial
relations specifically with Israel or persons doing business
in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories.
(21) Good governance, transparency, the effective operation
of legal regimes, and the rule of law of trading partners.--
The principal negotiating objectives of the United States
with respect to ensuring implementation of trade commitments
and obligations by strengthening good governance,
transparency, the effective operation of legal regimes and
the rule of law of trading partners of the United States is
through capacity building and other appropriate means, which
are important parts of the broader effort to create more open
democratic societies and to promote respect for
internationally recognized human rights.
(c) Capacity Building and Other Priorities.--In order to
address and maintain United States competitiveness in the
global economy, the President shall--
(1) direct the heads of relevant Federal agencies--
(A) to work to strengthen the capacity of United States
trading partners to carry out obligations under trade
agreements by consulting with any country seeking a trade
agreement with the United States concerning that country's
laws relating to customs and trade facilitation, sanitary and
phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade,
intellectual property rights, labor, and the environment; and
(B) to provide technical assistance to that country if
needed;
(2) seek to establish consultative mechanisms among parties
to trade agreements to strengthen the capacity of United
States trading partners to develop and implement standards
for the protection of the environment and human health based
on sound science;
(3) promote consideration of multilateral environmental
agreements and consult with parties to such agreements
regarding the consistency of any such agreement that includes
trade measures with existing environmental exceptions under
Article XX of GATT 1994; and
(4) submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate
an
[[Page H4511]]
annual report on capacity-building activities undertaken in
connection with trade agreements negotiated or being
negotiated pursuant to this title.
SEC. 103. TRADE AGREEMENTS AUTHORITY.
(a) Agreements Regarding Tariff Barriers.--
(1) In general.--Whenever the President determines that one
or more existing duties or other import restrictions of any
foreign country or the United States are unduly burdening and
restricting the foreign trade of the United States and that
the purposes, policies, priorities, and objectives of this
title will be promoted thereby, the President--
(A) may enter into trade agreements with foreign countries
before--
(i) July 1, 2018; or
(ii) July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are
extended under subsection (c); and
(B) may, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), proclaim--
(i) such modification or continuance of any existing duty,
(ii) such continuance of existing duty free or excise
treatment, or
(iii) such additional duties,
as the President determines to be required or appropriate to
carry out any such trade agreement.
Substantial modifications to, or substantial additional
provisions of, a trade agreement entered into after July 1,
2018, or July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are
extended under subsection (c), shall not be eligible for
approval under this title.
(2) Notification.--The President shall notify Congress of
the President's intention to enter into an agreement under
this subsection.
(3) Limitations.--No proclamation may be made under
paragraph (1) that--
(A) reduces any rate of duty (other than a rate of duty
that does not exceed 5 percent ad valorem on the date of the
enactment of this Act) to a rate of duty which is less than
50 percent of the rate of such duty that applies on such date
of enactment;
(B) reduces the rate of duty below that applicable under
the Uruguay Round Agreements or a successor agreement, on any
import sensitive agricultural product; or
(C) increases any rate of duty above the rate that applied
on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(4) Aggregate reduction; exemption from staging.--
(A) Aggregate reduction.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the aggregate reduction in the rate of duty
on any article which is in effect on any day pursuant to a
trade agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall not
exceed the aggregate reduction which would have been in
effect on such day if--
(i) a reduction of 3 percent ad valorem or a reduction of
\1/10\ of the total reduction, whichever is greater, had
taken effect on the effective date of the first reduction
proclaimed under paragraph (1) to carry out such agreement
with respect to such article; and
(ii) a reduction equal to the amount applicable under
clause (i) had taken effect at 1-year intervals after the
effective date of such first reduction.
(B) Exemption from staging.--No staging is required under
subparagraph (A) with respect to a duty reduction that is
proclaimed under paragraph (1) for an article of a kind that
is not produced in the United States. The United States
International Trade Commission shall advise the President of
the identity of articles that may be exempted from staging
under this subparagraph.
(5) Rounding.--If the President determines that such action
will simplify the computation of reductions under paragraph
(4), the President may round an annual reduction by an amount
equal to the lesser of--
(A) the difference between the reduction without regard to
this paragraph and the next lower whole number; or
(B) \1/2\ of 1 percent ad valorem.
(6) Other limitations.--A rate of duty reduction that may
not be proclaimed by reason of paragraph (3) may take effect
only if a provision authorizing such reduction is included
within an implementing bill provided for under section 106
and that bill is enacted into law.
(7) Other tariff modifications.--Notwithstanding paragraphs
(1)(B), (3)(A), (3)(C), and (4) through (6), and subject to
the consultation and layover requirements of section 115 of
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3524), the
President may proclaim the modification of any duty or staged
rate reduction of any duty set forth in Schedule XX, as
defined in section 2(5) of that Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(5)), if
the United States agrees to such modification or staged rate
reduction in a negotiation for the reciprocal elimination or
harmonization of duties under the auspices of the World Trade
Organization.
(8) Authority under uruguay round agreements act not
affected.--Nothing in this subsection shall limit the
authority provided to the President under section 111(b) of
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)).
(b) Agreements Regarding Tariff and Nontariff Barriers.--
(1) In general.--(A) Whenever the President determines
that--
(i) 1 or more existing duties or any other import
restriction of any foreign country or the United States or
any other barrier to, or other distortion of, international
trade unduly burdens or restricts the foreign trade of the
United States or adversely affects the United States economy,
or
(ii) the imposition of any such barrier or distortion is
likely to result in such a burden, restriction, or effect,
and that the purposes, policies, priorities, and objectives
of this title will be promoted thereby, the President may
enter into a trade agreement described in subparagraph (B)
during the period described in subparagraph (C).
(B) The President may enter into a trade agreement under
subparagraph (A) with foreign countries providing for--
(i) the reduction or elimination of a duty, restriction,
barrier, or other distortion described in subparagraph (A);
or
(ii) the prohibition of, or limitation on the imposition
of, such barrier or other distortion.
(C) The President may enter into a trade agreement under
this paragraph before--
(i) July 1, 2018; or
(ii) July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are
extended under subsection (c).
Substantial modifications to, or substantial additional
provisions of, a trade agreement entered into after July 1,
2018, or July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are
extended under subsection (c), shall not be eligible for
approval under this title.
(2) Conditions.--A trade agreement may be entered into
under this subsection only if such agreement makes progress
in meeting the applicable objectives described in subsections
(a) and (b) of section 102 and the President satisfies the
conditions set forth in sections 104 and 105.
(3) Bills qualifying for trade authorities procedures.--(A)
The provisions of section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (in
this title referred to as ``trade authorities procedures'')
apply to a bill of either House of Congress which contains
provisions described in subparagraph (B) to the same extent
as such section 151 applies to implementing bills under that
section. A bill to which this paragraph applies shall
hereafter in this title be referred to as an ``implementing
bill''.
(B) The provisions referred to in subparagraph (A) are--
(i) a provision approving a trade agreement entered into
under this subsection and approving the statement of
administrative action, if any, proposed to implement such
trade agreement; and
(ii) if changes in existing laws or new statutory authority
are required to implement such trade agreement or agreements,
only such provisions as are strictly necessary or appropriate
to implement such trade agreement or agreements, either
repealing or amending existing laws or providing new
statutory authority.
(c) Extension Disapproval Process for Congressional Trade
Authorities Procedures.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in section 106(b)--
(A) the trade authorities procedures apply to implementing
bills submitted with respect to trade agreements entered into
under subsection (b) before July 1, 2018; and
(B) the trade authorities procedures shall be extended to
implementing bills submitted with respect to trade agreements
entered into under subsection (b) after June 30, 2018, and
before July 1, 2021, if (and only if)--
(i) the President requests such extension under paragraph
(2); and
(ii) neither House of Congress adopts an extension
disapproval resolution under paragraph (5) before July 1,
2018.
(2) Report to congress by the president.--If the President
is of the opinion that the trade authorities procedures
should be extended to implementing bills described in
paragraph (1)(B), the President shall submit to Congress, not
later than April 1, 2018, a written report that contains a
request for such extension, together with--
(A) a description of all trade agreements that have been
negotiated under subsection (b) and the anticipated schedule
for submitting such agreements to Congress for approval;
(B) a description of the progress that has been made in
negotiations to achieve the purposes, policies, priorities,
and objectives of this title, and a statement that such
progress justifies the continuation of negotiations; and
(C) a statement of the reasons why the extension is needed
to complete the negotiations.
(3) Other reports to congress.--
(A) Report by the advisory committee.--The President shall
promptly inform the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and
Negotiations established under section 135 of the Trade Act
of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155) of the decision of the President to
submit a report to Congress under paragraph (2). The Advisory
Committee shall submit to Congress as soon as practicable,
but not later than June 1, 2018, a written report that
contains--
(i) its views regarding the progress that has been made in
negotiations to achieve the purposes, policies, priorities,
and objectives of this title; and
(ii) a statement of its views, and the reasons therefor,
regarding whether the extension requested under paragraph (2)
should be approved or disapproved.
(B) Report by international trade commission.--The
President shall promptly inform the United States
International Trade Commission of the decision of the
President to submit a report to Congress under paragraph (2).
The International Trade Commission shall submit to Congress
as soon as practicable, but not later than June 1, 2018,
[[Page H4512]]
a written report that contains a review and analysis of the
economic impact on the United States of all trade agreements
implemented between the date of the enactment of this Act and
the date on which the President decides to seek an extension
requested under paragraph (2).
(4) Status of reports.--The reports submitted to Congress
under paragraphs (2) and (3), or any portion of such reports,
may be classified to the extent the President determines
appropriate.
(5) Extension disapproval resolutions.--(A) For purposes of
paragraph (1), the term ``extension disapproval resolution''
means a resolution of either House of Congress, the sole
matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows:
``That the ____ disapproves the request of the President for
the extension, under section 103(c)(1)(B)(i) of the
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability
Act of 2015, of the trade authorities procedures under that
Act to any implementing bill submitted with respect to any
trade agreement entered into under section 103(b) of that Act
after June 30, 2018.'', with the blank space being filled
with the name of the resolving House of Congress.
(B) Extension disapproval resolutions--
(i) may be introduced in either House of Congress by any
member of such House; and
(ii) shall be referred, in the House of Representatives, to
the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to the
Committee on Rules.
(C) The provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section
152 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192) (relating to
the floor consideration of certain resolutions in the House
and Senate) apply to extension disapproval resolutions.
(D) It is not in order for--
(i) the House of Representatives to consider any extension
disapproval resolution not reported by the Committee on Ways
and Means and, in addition, by the Committee on Rules;
(ii) the Senate to consider any extension disapproval
resolution not reported by the Committee on Finance; or
(iii) either House of Congress to consider an extension
disapproval resolution after June 30, 2018.
(d) Commencement of Negotiations.--In order to contribute
to the continued economic expansion of the United States, the
President shall commence negotiations covering tariff and
nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product, or
service sector, and expand existing sectoral agreements to
countries that are not parties to those agreements, in cases
where the President determines that such negotiations are
feasible and timely and would benefit the United States. Such
sectors include agriculture, commercial services,
intellectual property rights, industrial and capital goods,
government procurement, information technology products,
environmental technology and services, medical equipment and
services, civil aircraft, and infrastructure products. In so
doing, the President shall take into account all of the
negotiating objectives set forth in section 102.
SEC. 104. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT, CONSULTATIONS, AND ACCESS
TO INFORMATION.
(a) Consultations With Members of Congress.--
(1) Consultations during negotiations.--In the course of
negotiations conducted under this title, the United States
Trade Representative shall--
(A) meet upon request with any Member of Congress regarding
negotiating objectives, the status of negotiations in
progress, and the nature of any changes in the laws of the
United States or the administration of those laws that may be
recommended to Congress to carry out any trade agreement or
any requirement of, amendment to, or recommendation under,
that agreement;
(B) upon request of any Member of Congress, provide access
to pertinent documents relating to the negotiations,
including classified materials;
(C) consult closely and on a timely basis with, and keep
fully apprised of the negotiations, the Committee on Ways and
Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Finance of the Senate;
(D) consult closely and on a timely basis with, and keep
fully apprised of the negotiations, the House Advisory Group
on Negotiations and the Senate Advisory Group on Negotiations
convened under subsection (c) and all committees of the House
of Representatives and the Senate with jurisdiction over laws
that could be affected by a trade agreement resulting from
the negotiations; and
(E) with regard to any negotiations and agreement relating
to agricultural trade, also consult closely and on a timely
basis (including immediately before initialing an agreement)
with, and keep fully apprised of the negotiations, the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the
Senate.
(2) Consultations prior to entry into force.--Prior to
exchanging notes providing for the entry into force of a
trade agreement, the United States Trade Representative shall
consult closely and on a timely basis with Members of
Congress and committees as specified in paragraph (1), and
keep them fully apprised of the measures a trading partner
has taken to comply with those provisions of the agreement
that are to take effect on the date that the agreement enters
into force.
(3) Enhanced coordination with congress.--
(A) Written guidelines.--The United States Trade
Representative, in consultation with the chairmen and the
ranking members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate, respectively--
(i) shall, not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, develop written guidelines on enhanced
coordination with Congress, including coordination with
designated congressional advisers under subsection (b),
regarding negotiations conducted under this title; and
(ii) may make such revisions to the guidelines as may be
necessary from time to time.
(B) Content of guidelines.--The guidelines developed under
subparagraph (A) shall enhance coordination with Congress
through procedures to ensure--
(i) timely briefings upon request of any Member of Congress
regarding negotiating objectives, the status of negotiations
in progress conducted under this title, and the nature of any
changes in the laws of the United States or the
administration of those laws that may be recommended to
Congress to carry out any trade agreement or any requirement
of, amendment to, or recommendation under, that agreement;
and
(ii) the sharing of detailed and timely information with
Members of Congress, and their staff with proper security
clearances as appropriate, regarding those negotiations and
pertinent documents related to those negotiations (including
classified information), and with committee staff with proper
security clearances as would be appropriate in the light of
the responsibilities of that committee over the trade
agreements programs affected by those negotiations.
(C) Dissemination.--The United States Trade Representative
shall disseminate the guidelines developed under subparagraph
(A) to all Federal agencies that could have jurisdiction over
laws affected by trade negotiations.
(b) Designated Congressional Advisers.--
(1) Designation.--
(A) House of representatives.--In each Congress, any Member
of the House of Representatives may be designated as a
congressional adviser on trade policy and negotiations by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consulting
with the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Ways
and Means and the chairman and ranking member of the
committee from which the Member will be selected.
(B) Senate.--In each Congress, any Member of the Senate may
be designated as a congressional adviser on trade policy and
negotiations by the President pro tempore of the Senate,
after consultation with the chairman and ranking member of
the Committee on Finance and the chairman and ranking member
of the committee from which the Member will be selected.
(2) Consultations with designated congressional advisers.--
In the course of negotiations conducted under this title, the
United States Trade Representative shall consult closely and
on a timely basis (including immediately before initialing an
agreement) with, and keep fully apprised of the negotiations,
the congressional advisers for trade policy and negotiations
designated under paragraph (1).
(3) Accreditation.--Each Member of Congress designated as a
congressional adviser under paragraph (1) shall be accredited
by the United States Trade Representative on behalf of the
President as an official adviser to the United States
delegations to international conferences, meetings, and
negotiating sessions relating to trade agreements.
(c) Congressional Advisory Groups on Negotiations.--
(1) In general.--By not later than 60 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and not later than 30 days
after the convening of each Congress, the chairman of the
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives
shall convene the House Advisory Group on Negotiations and
the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate shall
convene the Senate Advisory Group on Negotiations (in this
subsection referred to collectively as the ``congressional
advisory groups'').
(2) Members and functions.--
(A) Membership of the house advisory group on
negotiations.--In each Congress, the House Advisory Group on
Negotiations shall be comprised of the following Members of
the House of Representatives:
(i) The chairman and ranking member of the Committee on
Ways and Means, and 3 additional members of such Committee
(not more than 2 of whom are members of the same political
party).
(ii) The chairman and ranking member, or their designees,
of the committees of the House of Representatives that would
have, under the Rules of the House of Representatives,
jurisdiction over provisions of law affected by a trade
agreement negotiation conducted at any time during that
Congress and to which this title would apply.
(B) Membership of the senate advisory group on
negotiations.--In each Congress, the Senate Advisory Group on
Negotiations shall be comprised of the following Members of
the Senate:
(i) The chairman and ranking member of the Committee on
Finance and 3 additional members of such Committee (not more
than 2 of whom are members of the same political party).
(ii) The chairman and ranking member, or their designees,
of the committees of the
[[Page H4513]]
Senate that would have, under the Rules of the Senate,
jurisdiction over provisions of law affected by a trade
agreement negotiation conducted at any time during that
Congress and to which this title would apply.
(C) Accreditation.--Each member of the congressional
advisory groups described in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)(i)
shall be accredited by the United States Trade Representative
on behalf of the President as an official adviser to the
United States delegation in negotiations for any trade
agreement to which this title applies. Each member of the
congressional advisory groups described in subparagraphs
(A)(ii) and (B)(ii) shall be accredited by the United States
Trade Representative on behalf of the President as an
official adviser to the United States delegation in the
negotiations by reason of which the member is in one of the
congressional advisory groups.
(D) Consultation and advice.--The congressional advisory
groups shall consult with and provide advice to the Trade
Representative regarding the formulation of specific
objectives, negotiating strategies and positions, the
development of the applicable trade agreement, and compliance
and enforcement of the negotiated commitments under the trade
agreement.
(E) Chair.--The House Advisory Group on Negotiations shall
be chaired by the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means
of the House of Representatives and the Senate Advisory Group
on Negotiations shall be chaired by the Chairman of the
Committee on Finance of the Senate.
(F) Coordination with other committees.--Members of any
committee represented on one of the congressional advisory
groups may submit comments to the member of the appropriate
congressional advisory group from that committee regarding
any matter related to a negotiation for any trade agreement
to which this title applies.
(3) Guidelines.--
(A) Purpose and revision.--The United States Trade
Representative, in consultation with the chairmen and the
ranking members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate, respectively--
(i) shall, not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, develop written guidelines to
facilitate the useful and timely exchange of information
between the Trade Representative and the congressional
advisory groups; and
(ii) may make such revisions to the guidelines as may be
necessary from time to time.
(B) Content.--The guidelines developed under subparagraph
(A) shall provide for, among other things--
(i) detailed briefings on a fixed timetable to be specified
in the guidelines of the congressional advisory groups
regarding negotiating objectives and positions and the status
of the applicable negotiations, beginning as soon as
practicable after the congressional advisory groups are
convened, with more frequent briefings as trade negotiations
enter the final stage;
(ii) access by members of the congressional advisory
groups, and staff with proper security clearances, to
pertinent documents relating to the negotiations, including
classified materials;
(iii) the closest practicable coordination between the
Trade Representative and the congressional advisory groups at
all critical periods during the negotiations, including at
negotiation sites;
(iv) after the applicable trade agreement is concluded,
consultation regarding ongoing compliance and enforcement of
negotiated commitments under the trade agreement; and
(v) the timeframe for submitting the report required under
section 105(d)(3).
(4) Request for meeting.--Upon the request of a majority of
either of the congressional advisory groups, the President
shall meet with that congressional advisory group before
initiating negotiations with respect to a trade agreement, or
at any other time concerning the negotiations.
(d) Consultations With the Public.--
(1) Guidelines for public engagement.--The United States
Trade Representative, in consultation with the chairmen and
the ranking members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate, respectively--
(A) shall, not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, develop written guidelines on public
access to information regarding negotiations conducted under
this title; and
(B) may make such revisions to the guidelines as may be
necessary from time to time.
(2) Purposes.--The guidelines developed under paragraph (1)
shall--
(A) facilitate transparency;
(B) encourage public participation; and
(C) promote collaboration in the negotiation process.
(3) Content.--The guidelines developed under paragraph (1)
shall include procedures that--
(A) provide for rapid disclosure of information in forms
that the public can readily find and use; and
(B) provide frequent opportunities for public input through
Federal Register requests for comment and other means.
(4) Dissemination.--The United States Trade Representative
shall disseminate the guidelines developed under paragraph
(1) to all Federal agencies that could have jurisdiction over
laws affected by trade negotiations.
(e) Consultations With Advisory Committees.--
(1) Guidelines for engagement with advisory committees.--
The United States Trade Representative, in consultation with
the chairmen and the ranking members of the Committee on Ways
and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Finance of the Senate, respectively--
(A) shall, not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, develop written guidelines on enhanced
coordination with advisory committees established pursuant to
section 135 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155)
regarding negotiations conducted under this title; and
(B) may make such revisions to the guidelines as may be
necessary from time to time.
(2) Content.--The guidelines developed under paragraph (1)
shall enhance coordination with advisory committees described
in that paragraph through procedures to ensure--
(A) timely briefings of advisory committees and regular
opportunities for advisory committees to provide input
throughout the negotiation process on matters relevant to the
sectors or functional areas represented by those committees;
and
(B) the sharing of detailed and timely information with
each member of an advisory committee regarding negotiations
and pertinent documents related to the negotiation (including
classified information) on matters relevant to the sectors or
functional areas the member represents, and with a designee
with proper security clearances of each such member as
appropriate.
(3) Dissemination.--The United States Trade Representative
shall disseminate the guidelines developed under paragraph
(1) to all Federal agencies that could have jurisdiction over
laws affected by trade negotiations.
(f) Establishment of Position of Chief Transparency Officer
in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.--
Section 141(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171(b))
is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) There shall be in the Office one Chief Transparency
Officer. The Chief Transparency Officer shall consult with
Congress on transparency policy, coordinate transparency in
trade negotiations, engage and assist the public, and advise
the United States Trade Representative on transparency
policy.''.
SEC. 105. NOTICE, CONSULTATIONS, AND REPORTS.
(a) Notice, Consultations, and Reports Before
Negotiation.--
(1) Notice.--The President, with respect to any agreement
that is subject to the provisions of section 103(b), shall--
(A) provide, at least 90 calendar days before initiating
negotiations with a country, written notice to Congress of
the President's intention to enter into the negotiations with
that country and set forth in the notice the date on which
the President intends to initiate those negotiations, the
specific United States objectives for the negotiations with
that country, and whether the President intends to seek an
agreement, or changes to an existing agreement;
(B) before and after submission of the notice, consult
regarding the negotiations with the Committee on Ways and
Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Finance of the Senate, such other committees of the House and
Senate as the President deems appropriate, and the House
Advisory Group on Negotiations and the Senate Advisory Group
on Negotiations convened under section 104(c);
(C) upon the request of a majority of the members of either
the House Advisory Group on Negotiations or the Senate
Advisory Group on Negotiations convened under section 104(c),
meet with the requesting congressional advisory group before
initiating the negotiations or at any other time concerning
the negotiations; and
(D) after consulting with the Committee on Ways and Means
and the Committee on Finance, and at least 30 calendar days
before initiating negotiations with a country, publish on a
publicly available Internet website of the Office of the
United States Trade Representative, and regularly update
thereafter, a detailed and comprehensive summary of the
specific objectives with respect to the negotiations, and a
description of how the agreement, if successfully concluded,
will further those objectives and benefit the United States.
(2) Negotiations regarding agriculture.--
(A) Assessment and consultations following assessment.--
Before initiating or continuing negotiations the subject
matter of which is directly related to the subject matter
under section 102(b)(3)(B) with any country, the President
shall--
(i) assess whether United States tariffs on agricultural
products that were bound under the Uruguay Round Agreements
are lower than the tariffs bound by that country;
(ii) consider whether the tariff levels bound and applied
throughout the world with respect to imports from the United
States are higher than United States tariffs and whether the
negotiation provides an opportunity to address any such
disparity; and
[[Page H4514]]
(iii) consult with the Committee on Ways and Means and the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate concerning the results
of the assessment, whether it is appropriate for the United
States to agree to further tariff reductions based on the
conclusions reached in the assessment, and how all applicable
negotiating objectives will be met.
(B) Special consultations on import sensitive products.--
(i) Before initiating negotiations with regard to agriculture
and, with respect to agreements described in paragraphs (2)
and (3) of section 107(a), as soon as practicable after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the United States Trade
Representative shall--
(I) identify those agricultural products subject to tariff
rate quotas on the date of enactment of this Act, and
agricultural products subject to tariff reductions by the
United States as a result of the Uruguay Round Agreements,
for which the rate of duty was reduced on January 1, 1995, to
a rate which was not less than 97.5 percent of the rate of
duty that applied to such article on December 31, 1994;
(II) consult with the Committee on Ways and Means and the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate concerning--
(aa) whether any further tariff reductions on the products
identified under subclause (I) should be appropriate, taking
into account the impact of any such tariff reduction on the
United States industry producing the product concerned;
(bb) whether the products so identified face unjustified
sanitary or phytosanitary restrictions, including those not
based on scientific principles in contravention of the
Uruguay Round Agreements; and
(cc) whether the countries participating in the
negotiations maintain export subsidies or other programs,
policies, or practices that distort world trade in such
products and the impact of such programs, policies, and
practices on United States producers of the products;
(III) request that the International Trade Commission
prepare an assessment of the probable economic effects of any
such tariff reduction on the United States industry producing
the product concerned and on the United States economy as a
whole; and
(IV) upon complying with subclauses (I), (II), and (III),
notify the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Finance and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry of the Senate of those products identified under
subclause (I) for which the Trade Representative intends to
seek tariff liberalization in the negotiations and the
reasons for seeking such tariff liberalization.
(ii) If, after negotiations described in clause (i) are
commenced--
(I) the United States Trade Representative identifies any
additional agricultural product described in clause (i)(I)
for tariff reductions which were not the subject of a
notification under clause (i)(IV), or
(II) any additional agricultural product described in
clause (i)(I) is the subject of a request for tariff
reductions by a party to the negotiations,
the Trade Representative shall, as soon as practicable,
notify the committees referred to in clause (i)(IV) of those
products and the reasons for seeking such tariff reductions.
(3) Negotiations regarding the fishing industry.--Before
initiating, or continuing, negotiations that directly relate
to fish or shellfish trade with any country, the President
shall consult with the Committee on Ways and Means and the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Finance and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate, and shall keep the Committees apprised of the
negotiations on an ongoing and timely basis.
(4) Negotiations regarding textiles.--Before initiating or
continuing negotiations the subject matter of which is
directly related to textiles and apparel products with any
country, the President shall--
(A) assess whether United States tariffs on textile and
apparel products that were bound under the Uruguay Round
Agreements are lower than the tariffs bound by that country
and whether the negotiation provides an opportunity to
address any such disparity; and
(B) consult with the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate concerning the results of the assessment, whether it
is appropriate for the United States to agree to further
tariff reductions based on the conclusions reached in the
assessment, and how all applicable negotiating objectives
will be met.
(5) Adherence to existing international trade and
investment agreement obligations.--In determining whether to
enter into negotiations with a particular country, the
President shall take into account the extent to which that
country has implemented, or has accelerated the
implementation of, its international trade and investment
commitments to the United States, including pursuant to the
WTO Agreement.
(b) Consultation With Congress Before Entry Into
Agreement.--
(1) Consultation.--Before entering into any trade agreement
under section 103(b), the President shall consult with--
(A) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
(B) each other committee of the House and the Senate, and
each joint committee of Congress, which has jurisdiction over
legislation involving subject matters which would be affected
by the trade agreement; and
(C) the House Advisory Group on Negotiations and the Senate
Advisory Group on Negotiations convened under section 104(c).
(2) Scope.--The consultation described in paragraph (1)
shall include consultation with respect to--
(A) the nature of the agreement;
(B) how and to what extent the agreement will achieve the
applicable purposes, policies, priorities, and objectives of
this title; and
(C) the implementation of the agreement under section 106,
including the general effect of the agreement on existing
laws.
(3) Report regarding united states trade remedy laws.--
(A) Changes in certain trade laws.--The President, not less
than 180 calendar days before the day on which the President
enters into a trade agreement under section 103(b), shall
report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate--
(i) the range of proposals advanced in the negotiations
with respect to that agreement, that may be in the final
agreement, and that could require amendments to title VII of
the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.) or to chapter
1 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et
seq.); and
(ii) how these proposals relate to the objectives described
in section 102(b)(16).
(B) Resolutions.--(i) At any time after the transmission of
the report under subparagraph (A), if a resolution is
introduced with respect to that report in either House of
Congress, the procedures set forth in clauses (iii) through
(vii) shall apply to that resolution if--
(I) no other resolution with respect to that report has
previously been reported in that House of Congress by the
Committee on Ways and Means or the Committee on Finance, as
the case may be, pursuant to those procedures; and
(II) no procedural disapproval resolution under section
106(b) introduced with respect to a trade agreement entered
into pursuant to the negotiations to which the report under
subparagraph (A) relates has previously been reported in that
House of Congress by the Committee on Ways and Means or the
Committee on Finance, as the case may be.
(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
``resolution'' means only a resolution of either House of
Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is
as follows: ``That the ____ finds that the proposed changes
to United States trade remedy laws contained in the report of
the President transmitted to Congress on ____ under section
105(b)(3) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities
and Accountability Act of 2015 with respect to ____, are
inconsistent with the negotiating objectives described in
section 102(b)(16) of that Act.'', with the first blank space
being filled with the name of the resolving House of
Congress, the second blank space being filled with the
appropriate date of the report, and the third blank space
being filled with the name of the country or countries
involved.
(iii) Resolutions in the House of Representatives--
(I) may be introduced by any Member of the House;
(II) shall be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
and, in addition, to the Committee on Rules; and
(III) may not be amended by either Committee.
(iv) Resolutions in the Senate--
(I) may be introduced by any Member of the Senate;
(II) shall be referred to the Committee on Finance; and
(III) may not be amended.
(v) It is not in order for the House of Representatives to
consider any resolution that is not reported by the Committee
on Ways and Means and, in addition, by the Committee on
Rules.
(vi) It is not in order for the Senate to consider any
resolution that is not reported by the Committee on Finance.
(vii) The provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section
152 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192) (relating to
floor consideration of certain resolutions in the House and
Senate) shall apply to resolutions.
(4) Advisory committee reports.--The report required under
section 135(e)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2155(e)(1)) regarding any trade agreement entered into under
subsection (a) or (b) of section 103 shall be provided to the
President, Congress, and the United States Trade
Representative not later than 30 days after the date on which
the President notifies Congress under section 103(a)(2) or
106(a)(1)(A) of the intention of the President to enter into
the agreement.
(c) International Trade Commission Assessment.--
(1) Submission of information to commission.--The
President, not later than 90 calendar days before the day on
which the President enters into a trade agreement under
section 103(b), shall provide the International Trade
Commission (referred to in this subsection as the
``Commission'') with the details of the agreement as it
exists at that time and request the Commission to prepare and
submit an assessment of the
[[Page H4515]]
agreement as described in paragraph (2). Between the time the
President makes the request under this paragraph and the time
the Commission submits the assessment, the President shall
keep the Commission current with respect to the details of
the agreement.
(2) Assessment.--Not later than 105 calendar days after the
President enters into a trade agreement under section 103(b),
the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a
report assessing the likely impact of the agreement on the
United States economy as a whole and on specific industry
sectors, including the impact the agreement will have on the
gross domestic product, exports and imports, aggregate
employment and employment opportunities, the production,
employment, and competitive position of industries likely to
be significantly affected by the agreement, and the interests
of United States consumers.
(3) Review of empirical literature.--In preparing the
assessment under paragraph (2), the Commission shall review
available economic assessments regarding the agreement,
including literature regarding any substantially equivalent
proposed agreement, and shall provide in its assessment a
description of the analyses used and conclusions drawn in
such literature, and a discussion of areas of consensus and
divergence between the various analyses and conclusions,
including those of the Commission regarding the agreement.
(4) Public availability.--The President shall make each
assessment under paragraph (2) available to the public.
(d) Reports Submitted to Committees With Agreement.--
(1) Environmental reviews and reports.--The President
shall--
(A) conduct environmental reviews of future trade and
investment agreements, consistent with Executive Order 13141
(64 Fed. Reg. 63169), dated November 16, 1999, and its
relevant guidelines; and
(B) submit a report on those reviews and on the content and
operation of consultative mechanisms established pursuant to
section 102(c) to the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate at the time the President submits to Congress a copy
of the final legal text of an agreement pursuant to section
106(a)(1)(E).
(2) Employment impact reviews and reports.--The President
shall--
(A) review the impact of future trade agreements on United
States employment, including labor markets, modeled after
Executive Order 13141 (64 Fed. Reg. 63169) to the extent
appropriate in establishing procedures and criteria; and
(B) submit a report on such reviews to the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate at the time the President
submits to Congress a copy of the final legal text of an
agreement pursuant to section 106(a)(1)(E).
(3) Report on labor rights.--The President shall submit to
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate,
on a timeframe determined in accordance with section
104(c)(3)(B)(v)--
(A) a meaningful labor rights report of the country, or
countries, with respect to which the President is
negotiating; and
(B) a description of any provisions that would require
changes to the labor laws and labor practices of the United
States.
(4) Public availability.--The President shall make all
reports required under this subsection available to the
public.
(e) Implementation and Enforcement Plan.--
(1) In general.--At the time the President submits to
Congress a copy of the final legal text of an agreement
pursuant to section 106(a)(1)(E), the President shall also
submit to Congress a plan for implementing and enforcing the
agreement.
(2) Elements.--The implementation and enforcement plan
required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) Border personnel requirements.--A description of
additional personnel required at border entry points,
including a list of additional customs and agricultural
inspectors.
(B) Agency staffing requirements.--A description of
additional personnel required by Federal agencies responsible
for monitoring and implementing the trade agreement,
including personnel required by the Office of the United
States Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, the
Department of Agriculture (including additional personnel
required to implement sanitary and phytosanitary measures in
order to obtain market access for United States exports), the
Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the
Treasury, and such other agencies as may be necessary.
(C) Customs infrastructure requirements.--A description of
the additional equipment and facilities needed by U.S.
Customs and Border Protection.
(D) Impact on state and local governments.--A description
of the impact the trade agreement will have on State and
local governments as a result of increases in trade.
(E) Cost analysis.--An analysis of the costs associated
with each of the items listed in subparagraphs (A) through
(D).
(3) Budget submission.--The President shall include a
request for the resources necessary to support the plan
required by paragraph (1) in the first budget of the
President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of
title 31, United States Code, after the date of the
submission of the plan.
(4) Public availability.--The President shall make the plan
required under this subsection available to the public.
(f) Other Reports.--
(1) Report on penalties.--Not later than one year after the
imposition by the United States of a penalty or remedy
permitted by a trade agreement to which this title applies,
the President shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance
of the Senate a report on the effectiveness of the penalty or
remedy applied under United States law in enforcing United
States rights under the trade agreement, which shall address
whether the penalty or remedy was effective in changing the
behavior of the targeted party and whether the penalty or
remedy had any adverse impact on parties or interests not
party to the dispute.
(2) Report on impact of trade promotion authority.--Not
later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and not later than 5 years thereafter, the United States
International Trade Commission shall submit to the Committee
on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate a report on the economic
impact on the United States of all trade agreements with
respect to which Congress has enacted an implementing bill
under trade authorities procedures since January 1, 1984.
(3) Enforcement consultations and reports.--(A) The United
States Trade Representative shall consult with the Committee
on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate after acceptance of a
petition for review or taking an enforcement action in regard
to an obligation under a trade agreement, including a labor
or environmental obligation. During such consultations, the
United States Trade Representative shall describe the matter,
including the basis for such action and the application of
any relevant legal obligations.
(B) As part of the report required pursuant to section 163
of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2213), the President
shall report annually to Congress on enforcement actions
taken pursuant to a trade agreement to which the United
States is a party, as well as on any public reports issued by
Federal agencies on enforcement matters relating to a trade
agreement.
(g) Additional Coordination With Members.--Any Member of
the House of Representatives may submit to the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and any Member
of the Senate may submit to the Committee on Finance of the
Senate the views of that Member on any matter relevant to a
proposed trade agreement, and the relevant Committee shall
receive those views for consideration.
SEC. 106. IMPLEMENTATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Notification and submission.--Any agreement entered
into under section 103(b) shall enter into force with respect
to the United States if (and only if)--
(A) the President, at least 90 calendar days before the day
on which the President enters into the trade agreement,
notifies the House of Representatives and the Senate of the
President's intention to enter into the agreement, and
promptly thereafter publishes notice of such intention in the
Federal Register;
(B) the President, at least 60 days before the day on which
the President enters into the agreement, publishes the text
of the agreement on a publicly available Internet website of
the Office of the United States Trade Representative;
(C) within 60 days after entering into the agreement, the
President submits to Congress a description of those changes
to existing laws that the President considers would be
required in order to bring the United States into compliance
with the agreement;
(D) the President, at least 30 days before submitting to
Congress the materials under subparagraph (E), submits to
Congress--
(i) a draft statement of any administrative action proposed
to implement the agreement; and
(ii) a copy of the final legal text of the agreement;
(E) after entering into the agreement, the President
submits to Congress, on a day on which both Houses of
Congress are in session, a copy of the final legal text of
the agreement, together with--
(i) a draft of an implementing bill described in section
103(b)(3);
(ii) a statement of any administrative action proposed to
implement the trade agreement; and
(iii) the supporting information described in paragraph
(2)(A);
(F) the implementing bill is enacted into law; and
(G) the President, not later than 30 days before the date
on which the agreement enters into force with respect to a
party to the agreement, submits written notice to Congress
that the President has determined that the party has taken
measures necessary to comply with those provisions of the
agreement that are to take effect on the date on which the
agreement enters into force.
(2) Supporting information.--
(A) In general.--The supporting information required under
paragraph (1)(E)(iii) consists of--
[[Page H4516]]
(i) an explanation as to how the implementing bill and
proposed administrative action will change or affect existing
law; and
(ii) a statement--
(I) asserting that the agreement makes progress in
achieving the applicable purposes, policies, priorities, and
objectives of this title; and
(II) setting forth the reasons of the President regarding--
(aa) how and to what extent the agreement makes progress in
achieving the applicable purposes, policies, and objectives
referred to in subclause (I);
(bb) whether and how the agreement changes provisions of an
agreement previously negotiated;
(cc) how the agreement serves the interests of United
States commerce; and
(dd) how the implementing bill meets the standards set
forth in section 103(b)(3).
(B) Public availability.--The President shall make the
supporting information described in subparagraph (A)
available to the public.
(3) Reciprocal benefits.--In order to ensure that a foreign
country that is not a party to a trade agreement entered into
under section 103(b) does not receive benefits under the
agreement unless the country is also subject to the
obligations under the agreement, the implementing bill
submitted with respect to the agreement shall provide that
the benefits and obligations under the agreement apply only
to the parties to the agreement, if such application is
consistent with the terms of the agreement. The implementing
bill may also provide that the benefits and obligations under
the agreement do not apply uniformly to all parties to the
agreement, if such application is consistent with the terms
of the agreement.
(4) Disclosure of commitments.--Any agreement or other
understanding with a foreign government or governments
(whether oral or in writing) that--
(A) relates to a trade agreement with respect to which
Congress enacts an implementing bill under trade authorities
procedures; and
(B) is not disclosed to Congress before an implementing
bill with respect to that agreement is introduced in either
House of Congress,
shall not be considered to be part of the agreement approved
by Congress and shall have no force and effect under United
States law or in any dispute settlement body.
(b) Limitations on Trade Authorities Procedures.--
(1) For lack of notice or consultations.--
(A) In general.--The trade authorities procedures shall not
apply to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a
trade agreement or trade agreements entered into under
section 103(b) if during the 60-day period beginning on the
date that one House of Congress agrees to a procedural
disapproval resolution for lack of notice or consultations
with respect to such trade agreement or agreements, the other
House separately agrees to a procedural disapproval
resolution with respect to such trade agreement or
agreements.
(B) Procedural disapproval resolution.--(i) For purposes of
this paragraph, the term ``procedural disapproval
resolution'' means a resolution of either House of Congress,
the sole matter after the resolving clause of which is as
follows: ``That the President has failed or refused to notify
or consult in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 on
negotiations with respect to ________ and, therefore, the
trade authorities procedures under that Act shall not apply
to any implementing bill submitted with respect to such trade
agreement or agreements.'', with the blank space being filled
with a description of the trade agreement or agreements with
respect to which the President is considered to have failed
or refused to notify or consult.
(ii) For purposes of clause (i) and paragraphs (3)(C) and
(4)(C), the President has ``failed or refused to notify or
consult in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015'' on negotiations
with respect to a trade agreement or trade agreements if--
(I) the President has failed or refused to consult (as the
case may be) in accordance with sections 104 and 105 and this
section with respect to the negotiations, agreement, or
agreements;
(II) guidelines under section 104 have not been developed
or met with respect to the negotiations, agreement, or
agreements;
(III) the President has not met with the House Advisory
Group on Negotiations or the Senate Advisory Group on
Negotiations pursuant to a request made under section
104(c)(4) with respect to the negotiations, agreement, or
agreements; or
(IV) the agreement or agreements fail to make progress in
achieving the purposes, policies, priorities, and objectives
of this title.
(2) Procedures for considering resolutions.--(A) Procedural
disapproval resolutions--
(i) in the House of Representatives--
(I) may be introduced by any Member of the House;
(II) shall be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
and, in addition, to the Committee on Rules; and
(III) may not be amended by either Committee; and
(ii) in the Senate--
(I) may be introduced by any Member of the Senate;
(II) shall be referred to the Committee on Finance; and
(III) may not be amended.
(B) The provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section
152 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192) (relating to
the floor consideration of certain resolutions in the House
and Senate) apply to a procedural disapproval resolution
introduced with respect to a trade agreement if no other
procedural disapproval resolution with respect to that trade
agreement has previously been reported in that House of
Congress by the Committee on Ways and Means or the Committee
on Finance, as the case may be, and if no resolution
described in clause (ii) of section 105(b)(3)(B) with respect
to that trade agreement has been reported in that House of
Congress by the Committee on Ways and Means or the Committee
on Finance, as the case may be, pursuant to the procedures
set forth in clauses (iii) through (vii) of such section.
(C) It is not in order for the House of Representatives to
consider any procedural disapproval resolution not reported
by the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, by the
Committee on Rules.
(D) It is not in order for the Senate to consider any
procedural disapproval resolution not reported by the
Committee on Finance.
(3) Consideration in senate of consultation and compliance
resolution to remove trade authorities procedures.--
(A) Reporting of resolution.--If, when the Committee on
Finance of the Senate meets on whether to report an
implementing bill with respect to a trade agreement or
agreements entered into under section 103(b), the committee
fails to favorably report the bill, the committee shall
report a resolution described in subparagraph (C).
(B) Applicability of trade authorities procedures.--The
trade authorities procedures shall not apply in the Senate to
any implementing bill submitted with respect to a trade
agreement or agreements described in subparagraph (A) if the
Committee on Finance reports a resolution described in
subparagraph (C) and such resolution is agreed to by the
Senate.
(C) Resolution described.--A resolution described in this
subparagraph is a resolution of the Senate originating from
the Committee on Finance the sole matter after the resolving
clause of which is as follows: ``That the President has
failed or refused to notify or consult in accordance with the
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability
Act of 2015 on negotiations with respect to _____ and,
therefore, the trade authorities procedures under that Act
shall not apply in the Senate to any implementing bill
submitted with respect to such trade agreement or
agreements.'', with the blank space being filled with a
description of the trade agreement or agreements described in
subparagraph (A).
(D) Procedures.--If the Senate does not agree to a motion
to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to a resolution
described in subparagraph (C), the resolution shall be
committed to the Committee on Finance.
(4) Consideration in the house of representatives of a
consultation and compliance resolution.--
(A) Qualifications for reporting resolution.--If--
(i) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives reports an implementing bill with respect to
a trade agreement or agreements entered into under section
103(b) with other than a favorable recommendation; and
(ii) a Member of the House of Representatives has
introduced a consultation and compliance resolution on the
legislative day following the filing of a report to accompany
the implementing bill with other than a favorable
recommendation,
then the Committee on Ways and Means shall consider a
consultation and compliance resolution pursuant to
subparagraph (B).
(B) Committee consideration of a qualifying resolution.--
(i) Not later than the fourth legislative day after the date
of introduction of the resolution, the Committee on Ways and
Means shall meet to consider a resolution meeting the
qualifications set forth in subparagraph (A).
(ii) After consideration of one such resolution by the
Committee on Ways and Means, this subparagraph shall not
apply to any other such resolution.
(iii) If the Committee on Ways and Means has not reported
the resolution by the sixth legislative day after the date of
its introduction, that committee shall be discharged from
further consideration of the resolution.
(C) Consultation and compliance resolution described.--A
consultation and compliance resolution--
(i) is a resolution of the House of Representatives, the
sole matter after the resolving clause of which is as
follows: ``That the President has failed or refused to notify
or consult in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 on
negotiations with respect to _____ and, therefore, the trade
authorities procedures under that Act shall not apply in the
House of Representatives to any implementing bill submitted
with respect to such trade agreement or agreements.'', with
the blank space being filled with a description of the trade
agreement or agreements described in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) shall be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
[[Page H4517]]
(D) Applicability of trade authorities procedures.--The
trade authorities procedures shall not apply in the House of
Representatives to any implementing bill submitted with
respect to a trade agreement or agreements which are the
object of a consultation and compliance resolution if such
resolution is adopted by the House.
(5) For failure to meet other requirements.--Not later than
December 15, 2015, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury,
the Attorney General, and the United States Trade
Representative, shall transmit to Congress a report setting
forth the strategy of the executive branch to address
concerns of Congress regarding whether dispute settlement
panels and the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization
have added to obligations, or diminished rights, of the
United States, as described in section 102(b)(15)(C). Trade
authorities procedures shall not apply to any implementing
bill with respect to an agreement negotiated under the
auspices of the World Trade Organization unless the Secretary
of Commerce has issued such report by the deadline specified
in this paragraph.
(6) Limitations on procedures with respect to agreements
with countries not in compliance with trafficking victims
protection act of 2000.--
(A) In general.--The trade authorities procedures shall not
apply to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a
trade agreement or trade agreements entered into under
section 103(b) with a country to which the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking are applicable and the
government of which does not fully comply with such standards
and is not making significant efforts to bring the country
into compliance (commonly referred to as a ``tier 3''
country), as determined in the most recent annual report on
trafficking in persons submitted under section 110(b)(1) of
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7107(b)(1)).
(B) Minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
defined.--In this paragraph, the term ``minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking'' means the standards set
forth in section 108 of the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7106).
(c) Rules of House of Representatives and Senate.--
Subsection (b) of this section, section 103(c), and section
105(b)(3) are enacted by Congress--
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of
Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such are
deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, and
such procedures supersede other rules only to the extent that
they are inconsistent with such other rules; and
(2) with the full recognition of the constitutional right
of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to
the procedures of that House) at any time, in the same
manner, and to the same extent as any other rule of that
House.
SEC. 107. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TRADE AGREEMENTS FOR WHICH
NEGOTIATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN.
(a) Certain Agreements.--Notwithstanding the prenegotiation
notification and consultation requirement described in
section 105(a), if an agreement to which section 103(b)
applies--
(1) is entered into under the auspices of the World Trade
Organization,
(2) is entered into with the Trans-Pacific Partnership
countries with respect to which notifications have been made
in a manner consistent with section 105(a)(1)(A) as of the
date of the enactment of this Act,
(3) is entered into with the European Union,
(4) is an agreement with respect to international trade in
services entered into with WTO members with respect to which
a notification has been made in a manner consistent with
section 105(a)(1)(A) as of the date of the enactment of this
Act, or
(5) is an agreement with respect to environmental goods
entered into with WTO members with respect to which a
notification has been made in a manner consistent with
section 105(a)(1)(A) as of the date of the enactment of this
Act,
and results from negotiations that were commenced before the
date of the enactment of this Act, subsection (b) shall
apply.
(b) Treatment of Agreements.--In the case of any agreement
to which subsection (a) applies, the applicability of the
trade authorities procedures to implementing bills shall be
determined without regard to the requirements of section
105(a) (relating only to notice prior to initiating
negotiations), and any resolution under paragraph (1)(B),
(3)(C), or (4)(C) of section 106(b) shall not be in order on
the basis of a failure or refusal to comply with the
provisions of section 105(a), if (and only if) the President,
as soon as feasible after the date of the enactment of this
Act--
(1) notifies Congress of the negotiations described in
subsection (a), the specific United States objectives in the
negotiations, and whether the President is seeking a new
agreement or changes to an existing agreement; and
(2) before and after submission of the notice, consults
regarding the negotiations with the committees referred to in
section 105(a)(1)(B) and the House and Senate Advisory Groups
on Negotiations convened under section 104(c).
SEC. 108. SOVEREIGNTY.
(a) United States Law To Prevail in Event of Conflict.--No
provision of any trade agreement entered into under section
103(b), nor the application of any such provision to any
person or circumstance, that is inconsistent with any law of
the United States, any State of the United States, or any
locality of the United States shall have effect.
(b) Amendments or Modifications of United States Law.--No
provision of any trade agreement entered into under section
103(b) shall prevent the United States, any State of the
United States, or any locality of the United States from
amending or modifying any law of the United States, that
State, or that locality (as the case may be).
(c) Dispute Settlement Reports.--Reports, including
findings and recommendations, issued by dispute settlement
panels convened pursuant to any trade agreement entered into
under section 103(b) shall have no binding effect on the law
of the United States, the Government of the United States, or
the law or government of any State or locality of the United
States.
SEC. 109. INTERESTS OF SMALL BUSINESSES.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States Trade Representative should
facilitate participation by small businesses in the trade
negotiation process; and
(2) the functions of the Office of the United States Trade
Representative relating to small businesses should continue
to be reflected in the title of the Assistant United States
Trade Representative assigned the responsibility for small
businesses.
(b) Consideration of Small Business Interests.--The
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Small
Business, Market Access, and Industrial Competitiveness shall
be responsible for ensuring that the interests of small
businesses are considered in all trade negotiations in
accordance with the objective described in section 102(a)(8).
SEC. 110. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS; APPLICATION OF CERTAIN
PROVISIONS.
(a) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Advice from united states international trade
commission.--Section 131 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2151) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``section 2103(a) or (b)
of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``subsection (a) or (b) of section 103 of the
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability
Act of 2015''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``section 2103(b) of the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 103(b) of the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015'';
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``section 2103(a)(3)(A)
of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 103(a)(4)(A) of the Bipartisan
Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of
2015''; and
(C) in subsection (c), by striking ``section 2103 of the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 103(a) of the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''.
(2) Hearings.--Section 132 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2152) is amended by striking ``section 2103 of the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 103 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''.
(3) Public hearings.--Section 133(a) of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2153(a)) is amended by striking ``section
2103 of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of
2002'' and inserting ``section 103 of the Bipartisan
Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of
2015''.
(4) Prerequisites for offers.--Section 134 of the Trade Act
of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2154) is amended by striking ``section
2103 of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of
2002'' each place it appears and inserting ``section 103 of
the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and
Accountability Act of 2015''.
(5) Information and advice from private and public
sectors.--Section 135 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2155) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ``section 2103 of
the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 103 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''; and
(B) in subsection (e)--
(i) in paragraph (1)--
(I) by striking ``section 2103 of the Bipartisan Trade
Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' each place it appears and
inserting ``section 103 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''; and
(II) by striking ``not later than the date on which the
President notifies the Congress under section 2105(a)(1)(A)
of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``not later than the date that is 30 days after the
date on which the President notifies Congress under section
106(a)(1)(A) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities
and Accountability Act of 2015''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``section 2102 of the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 102 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''.
[[Page H4518]]
(6) Procedures relating to implementing bills.--Section 151
of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191) is amended--
(A) in subsection (b)(1), in the matter preceding
subparagraph (A), by striking ``section 2105(a)(1) of the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 106(a)(1) of the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''; and
(B) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ``section 2105(a)(1)
of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002'' and
inserting ``section 106(a)(1) of the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015''.
(7) Transmission of agreements to congress.--Section 162(a)
of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2212(a)) is amended by
striking ``section 2103 of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion
Authority Act of 2002'' and inserting ``section 103 of the
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability
Act of 2015''.
(b) Application of Certain Provisions.--For purposes of
applying sections 125, 126, and 127 of the Trade Act of 1974
(19 U.S.C. 2135, 2136, and 2137)--
(1) any trade agreement entered into under section 103
shall be treated as an agreement entered into under section
101 or 102 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2111 or 2112),
as appropriate; and
(2) any proclamation or Executive order issued pursuant to
a trade agreement entered into under section 103 shall be
treated as a proclamation or Executive order issued pursuant
to a trade agreement entered into under section 102 of the
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2112).
SEC. 111. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Agreement on agriculture.--The term ``Agreement on
Agriculture'' means the agreement referred to in section
101(d)(2) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.
3511(d)(2)).
(2) Agreement on safeguards.--The term ``Agreement on
Safeguards'' means the agreement referred to in section
101(d)(13) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.
3511(d)(13)).
(3) Agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures.--
The term ``Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures'' means the agreement referred to in section
101(d)(12) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.
3511(d)(12)).
(4) Antidumping agreement.--The term ``Antidumping
Agreement'' means the Agreement on Implementation of Article
VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994
referred to in section 101(d)(7) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(7)).
(5) Appellate body.--The term ``Appellate Body'' means the
Appellate Body established under Article 17.1 of the Dispute
Settlement Understanding.
(6) Common multilateral environmental agreement.--
(A) In general.--The term ``common multilateral
environmental agreement'' means any agreement specified in
subparagraph (B) or included under subparagraph (C) to which
both the United States and one or more other parties to the
negotiations are full parties, including any current or
future mutually agreed upon protocols, amendments, annexes,
or adjustments to such an agreement.
(B) Agreements specified.--The agreements specified in this
subparagraph are the following:
(i) The Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, done at Washington March 3,
1973 (27 UST 1087; TIAS 8249).
(ii) The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer, done at Montreal September 16, 1987.
(iii) The Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973,
done at London February 17, 1978.
(iv) The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, done at Ramsar February 2,
1971 (TIAS 11084).
(v) The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources, done at Canberra May 20, 1980 (33 UST
3476).
(vi) The International Convention for the Regulation of
Whaling, done at Washington December 2, 1946 (62 Stat. 1716).
(vii) The Convention for the Establishment of an Inter-
American Tropical Tuna Commission, done at Washington May 31,
1949 (1 UST 230).
(C) Additional agreements.--Both the United States and one
or more other parties to the negotiations may agree to
include any other multilateral environmental or conservation
agreement to which they are full parties as a common
multilateral environmental agreement under this paragraph.
(7) Core labor standards.--The term ``core labor
standards'' means--
(A) freedom of association;
(B) the effective recognition of the right to collective
bargaining;
(C) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory
labor;
(D) the effective abolition of child labor and a
prohibition on the worst forms of child labor; and
(E) the elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation.
(8) Dispute settlement understanding.--The term ``Dispute
Settlement Understanding'' means the Understanding on Rules
and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes referred
to in section 101(d)(16) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act
(19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(16)).
(9) Enabling clause.--The term ``Enabling Clause'' means
the Decision on Differential and More Favourable Treatment,
Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries
(L/4903), adopted November 28, 1979, under GATT 1947 (as
defined in section 2 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19
U.S.C. 3501)).
(10) Environmental laws.--The term ``environmental laws'',
with respect to the laws of the United States, means
environmental statutes and regulations enforceable by action
of the Federal Government.
(11) GATT 1994.--The term ``GATT 1994'' has the meaning
given that term in section 2 of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act (19 U.S.C. 3501).
(12) General agreement on trade in services.--The term
``General Agreement on Trade in Services'' means the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (referred to in section
101(d)(14) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.
3511(d)(14))).
(13) Government procurement agreement.--The term
``Government Procurement Agreement'' means the Agreement on
Government Procurement referred to in section 101(d)(17) of
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(17)).
(14) ILO.--The term ``ILO'' means the International Labor
Organization.
(15) Import sensitive agricultural product.--The term
``import sensitive agricultural product'' means an
agricultural product--
(A) with respect to which, as a result of the Uruguay Round
Agreements, the rate of duty was the subject of tariff
reductions by the United States and, pursuant to such
Agreements, was reduced on January 1, 1995, to a rate that
was not less than 97.5 percent of the rate of duty that
applied to such article on December 31, 1994; or
(B) which was subject to a tariff rate quota on the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(16) Information technology agreement.--The term
``Information Technology Agreement'' means the Ministerial
Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products of
the World Trade Organization, agreed to at Singapore December
13, 1996.
(17) Internationally recognized core labor standards.--The
term ``internationally recognized core labor standards''
means the core labor standards only as stated in the ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and
its Follow-Up (1998).
(18) Labor laws.--The term ``labor laws'' means the
statutes and regulations, or provisions thereof, of a party
to the negotiations that are directly related to core labor
standards as well as other labor protections for children and
minors and acceptable conditions of work with respect to
minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and
health, and for the United States, includes Federal statutes
and regulations addressing those standards, protections, or
conditions, but does not include State or local labor laws.
(19) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen;
(B) a partnership, corporation, or other legal entity that
is organized under the laws of the United States; and
(C) a partnership, corporation, or other legal entity that
is organized under the laws of a foreign country and is
controlled by entities described in subparagraph (B) or
United States citizens, or both.
(20) Uruguay round agreements.--The term ``Uruguay Round
Agreements'' has the meaning given that term in section 2(7)
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(7)).
(21) World trade organization; wto.--The terms ``World
Trade Organization'' and ``WTO'' mean the organization
established pursuant to the WTO Agreement.
(22) WTO agreement.--The term ``WTO Agreement'' means the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization entered
into on April 15, 1994.
(23) WTO member.--The term ``WTO member'' has the meaning
given that term in section 2(10) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(10)).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 321, the motion
shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) and the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Levin) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2146, Defending Public
Safety Employees' Retirement Act, currently under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
[[Page H4519]]
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Welcome back, everybody. I have to admit, I am a little disappointed
that we are back here today. Last week, a bipartisan majority stepped
up to pass trade promotion authority. That vote showed that Republicans
and Democrats can still come together to do what is right for this
country. It was a vote that I am very proud of.
Unfortunately, many of our friends on the other side of the aisle
would not stand with their President and voted to sacrifice a program
that they support--a program that they asked for--in order to block our
path. It was disappointing, but we are not going to be discouraged.
That is why we are back here today.
Enacting trade promotion authority is critical for our economy and
our national security, and so we are going to get it done here today.
Why do we need TPA? Well, Mr. Speaker, it is pretty easy, an easy
question to answer--because we need more trade. Ninety-five percent of
the world's consumers don't live in America. They live in other
countries. If we want to make more things here and sell them there,
then we need to tear down those trade barriers that make American goods
and services more expensive.
We know that trade is good for our economy. One in five jobs in
America is already tied to trade, and they pay on average 18 percent
more. We also need more trade to bolster our foreign policy and our
national security. Stronger economic ties lead to stronger security
ties. More market share means more influence. That is why so many
national security voices, former military leaders, former Secretaries
of Defense, former Secretaries of State have all called on Congress to
pass TPA. They understand what is at stake here, Mr. Speaker.
What is at stake here is no less than America's credibility because
the rules of the global economy are being written right now. The
question is: Who is going to write those rules? Will it be the United
States and our allies or will it be other nations that don't share our
values or don't share our commitment to free enterprise and the rule of
law?
Our friends in Asia and Europe are getting ready to place their bets.
They want to sign up for American-style free enterprise, but they need
to know that the United States is going to stand strong as a reliable
ally, as a reliable trading partner before they do that. That is what
TPA is all about.
So how does it work? We have heard all kinds of crazy misinformation
spread by the opponents of trade. I mean, crazy stuff, really. Let me,
one more time, explain what TPA is and what TPA is not. TPA is a
process; it is not an agreement. It is a process that gives us the best
shot at getting a good trade agreement. It is a process, dating back
decades, that Congress has used to insert itself into trade
negotiations in order to provide more accountability and more
transparency to the administration, to the President.
This TPA has more transparency and more accountability than any
version ever before. It lays out 150 objectives and guidelines that the
administration must follow while negotiating a trade deal. These are
our priorities. If the President wants an agreement, then he must meet
to address these priorities. He must meet these guidelines in order to
get it passed through Congress.
This TPA also requires that the administration consults with Congress
during the negotiations: Give us access to all of the text, provide
timely briefings on demand, allow Members to attend the negotiating
rounds as accredited advisers if they want to. If we are here in
session, we can send our people. That is what the Zinke amendment
accomplishes.
Finally, perhaps most importantly, Mr. Speaker, TPA ensures that the
American people can read any trade agreement, every trade agreement
long before anyone is asked to vote on it--60 days. An agreement must
be made public and posted online for 60 days before it can even be sent
to Congress. This turns fast track into slow track.
Mr. Speaker, it is transparency, it is effective oversight, and it is
accountability because if the President doesn't meet these requirements
or doesn't follow the negotiating objectives, we can turn TPA off for
that agreement. We can cancel the vote, we can amend the agreement, or
we can stop it entirely. So it is ultimately, we, Congress, we always
have the final say. No agreement takes effect, no laws are changed
unless we vote to allow it.
This process, TPA, creates a pact between Congress and the
administration that allows our trading partners to know that we speak
with one voice. It allows them to make their best efforts, knowing that
as long as the administration follows TPA, Congress won't try to
rewrite an agreement later. In other words, it gives America
credibility, Mr. Speaker. And, boy, do we need credibility right now.
Make no mistake, all of my colleagues, make no mistake: the world is
watching us; they are watching this vote. The foreign policy failures
of the last few years, not to mention the stunt pulled here last week,
have capitals all around the world wondering if America still has it.
Are we still the leader? Are we still the Republic that other countries
aspire to be? They want to know that we are still willing to engage,
still willing to lead, that we are still a nation that is out front. Or
are we in retreat and decline?
We are here today to answer that question again. America does not
retreat; America leads. That is why I urge my colleagues to vote
``yes'' for TPA.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is said that we should write the rules, not China.
But make no mistake, the ``we'' is not Congress, leaving us with only a
``yes'' or ``no'' vote at the very end. To vote for TPA now is to
surrender congressional leverage. To get it right in shaping TPP, the
most significant trade negotiation in decades, Congress will have
settled for a bill with so-called congressional negotiating objectives
so vague they are essentially meaningless.
That won't matter to those who basically approach trade with a 19th
century dogma, that trade between any two nations will naturally be
beneficial, simply matching the comparative economic advantages of
each. But that has not worked out when, in this era, one nation
manipulates its currency as it trades with the other, when nations
suppress worker rights to keep their wages low, or degrade their
environment to help them compete, or when nations heavily subsidize
their markets or they keep their markets closed while their competitor
keeps them very open in vital areas, whether industrial or
agricultural.
So let us write the rules, but Congress must be sure they are right.
We must make sure that the beneficiaries are the many in our Nation,
not just the few.
As often stated in this debate, trade does, indeed, create winners
and losers. As one who has worked hard to help put together expanded
trade agreements, I know that in a globalizing world economy, failure
to write the rules effectively is one of the reasons there have been
too many losers. Millions of jobs lost, with middle class wages
stagnant for decades, while the relative few have done so well.
Congress should not give what would be essentially a blank check to
USTR on key outstanding issues in the TPP negotiations. With this TPA,
you are saying ``fine'' to no meaningful currency provision. You are
saying ``fine'' to giving private investors in growing numbers the
ability to choose an unregulated arbitration panel instead of a well-
established judicial system in order to overturn local or national
health or environmental regulations. With this TPA, you cannot be
confident Vietnam and Mexico will adhere to meaningful labor standards.
With this TPA, you can't be confident that Japan will open its market
at long last to our cars or agricultural products. With this TPA, you
can't be confident that there will be access to lifesaving medicines.
Despite a bombardment of rhetoric, instead of the approach that we
laid out in the substitute that we have not even been allowed to
consider in the committee or in this House, the reality is that this
TPA will not put Congress in the driver's seat, but the backseat, for
TPP and for 6 years in important negotiations with Europe in TTIP and
who knows what else. Congress has a responsibility to get trade
negotiations on the right track, not the fast track. Vote ``no.''
I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H4520]]
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Brady), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways
and Means.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. I thank Chairman Ryan for his leadership.
Mr. Speaker, free trade is economic freedom. It is the freedom to buy
and sell and compete around the world with as little government
interference as possible. It is really one of the great economic rights
of every American. Given the choice between more economic freedom or
less, we should always choose more. We know if America doesn't lead in
free and fair trade, we will grow weaker and our foreign competitors
will grow stronger, and our factories and farmers and manufacturers
will be priced out and shut down.
Texas is made for trade. America is made for trade. It is time,
through expanded trade, to preserve these economic principles that have
helped us thrive and grow over the century. That is why Congress
flexing its constitutional muscles and setting clear rules for future
American trade is not just a good thing for America; it is a great
thing.
Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Becerra), the chairman of our caucus and a member of our committee.
Mr. BECERRA. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, this trade promotion authority legislation, as we have
heard, is all about writing the rules, writing the rules on trade. It
is about who will lead or who will retreat on assisting on free and
fair trade.
This TPA legislation sets forward the instructions on how we will
write the rules in any trade agreement. Okay. So who is going to lead
in writing the rules? On currency manipulation, where countries, not
just the companies, but the countries themselves that want to trade
with us are cheating by manipulating their currency to make the value
of their goods look less expensive than American products in the same
area, when those countries are cheating, what are we going to say
should be the rules when it comes to currency manipulation?
{time} 1130
Under this TPA, we can't say anything because we are prohibited from
including anything in a trade agreement that will deal with currency
manipulation.
You then have to ask a second question. You are telling me that
countries that are going to sign these deals are going to be allowed to
cheat when it comes to how they manipulate their currency so their
products will look cheaper than ours? We are supposed to depend on
those same countries that are cheating to now enforce the rules in
these agreements against companies in those countries that are
cheating? What kind of instruction is that?
What about when it comes to letting people in America know what is in
these deals? What if we want to know where the products that are going
to be bought and sold in our stores come from? Shouldn't we have the
right, if we want, to know the country of origin of a particular
product?
I have heard about tainted milk coming from places around the world.
We have heard about toys that have dangerous chemicals in them that our
kids play with. Don't we want to know where these products are coming
from? That is all we are saying, just to know where they are coming
from, not that we are going to degrade the place where they come from;
we just want to know if it is made in the USA or made somewhere else.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. BECERRA. Under this TPA, we can't ask those questions. We won't
be able to find out where a product is made because someone else--a
tribunal, not an American court--will decide whether we can label a
product as made in the USA or not.
Right now, these international tribunals that have no American
jurists or judges sitting on them get to decide for us if Americans
should have the right to know where a product is coming from that they
are buying from a store in their neighborhood.
How does that lead to making sure trade is free and fair if we can't
even put a label on a product coming from some other country that has
in the past sent us tainted products?
We can do much better. We have over two or three decades of
experience in writing trade deals. We know what works; we know what
doesn't. The thing we know most is that enforcement is the most
difficult aspect of trade because most companies in faraway places
don't follow American law and American rules and they cheat and they
think they think can get away with it.
We can do much better. Let's get a better trade deal that is free and
fair. This TPA doesn't give us that. It doesn't give us the right
rules. Reject this TPA legislation.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LEVIN. It is now my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), another distinguished member of our
committee.
Mr. KIND. I thank my friend for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, last week, in a bipartisan majority, this House granted
this administration trade promotion authority so that it can begin to
elevate standards and level the playing field for our workers, our
farmers, and our businesses so we can effectively compete in one of the
fastest growing regions of the global economy.
It is time for us to move forward. I feel confident that, with the
assurances that we received from the Republican leadership, this body
will have another opportunity to also pass Trade Adjustment Assistance
so that the training programs and education for the workers who need it
will be in place.
Out of consideration for some of our colleagues who are trying to get
home to their communities today after last night's terrible shootings,
I end by encouraging my colleagues to support this legislation. It is
time for America to move on.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), a member of our committee.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, if at first you don't succeed, try, try
again. That seems to be the approach on trade.
Despite the fact that TPA passed the House last week by only eight
votes, at no point did the lightbulb go off for the leadership that
perhaps they could work with the majority of the Democratic Caucus to
find agreement on how to move forward. I don't know why that didn't
occur to you. Instead of cooperation, they have opted to use procedural
tricks to pass the TPA.
The leadership has chosen to take a bipartisan bill passed by both
Chambers of Congress that would aid our law enforcement officers and
public safety workers and inject the unrelated, controversial trade
debate into it. I can speak firsthand because I am one of the sponsors
of the bill.
This bill, the Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act, I
have worked on with my friend Congressman Reichert, on behalf of the
men and women who serve the public in physically demanding work each
and every day.
It would ensure that they could access their full retirement benefits
at the time they retire without incurring a tax penalty. It is a good
bill. I am not only one of the sponsors, I vote for it.
Today, this bill to provide tax fairness for our law enforcement
officers has been twisted and diminished to a convenient vehicle to ram
through fast track for a deeply flawed trade bill.
This is not the same bill that we voted on Friday. Please read this
bill. It is not. I urge a ``no'' vote.
In fact, Harold Schaitberger, president of the International
Association of Fire Fighters, has written a letter urging Members to
oppose attaching TPA to this bill.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership would establish the biggest trade
agreement we have seen in years, encompassing 40 percent of the world's
economy. We need to take our time and do it right. In its current form,
TPP is woefully inadequate and fails to ensure a fair deal for American
workers.
Issues such as prohibiting currency manipulation and ensuring food
safety have been neglected in TPP. As an example, only 1 percent of
imported fish into this country--seafood--is inspected. I hope the next
time you go into the restaurant, you ask the proprietor: Has this fish
been inspected?
[[Page H4521]]
He will look at you like you have three heads. Isn't that
interesting?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. PASCRELL. This country got shafted with our deal with Korea on
country of origin automobiles. You don't really see any more cars
traveling through Korea--or certainly China--that are made in the
United States of America. We are taking a backseat.
Instead of protecting the interests of American U.S. workers--not
protectionism, we are not advocating that--this trade bill gives
protections and sweetheart deals to multinational corporations, pure
and simple. The American people look at every poll--from the left, from
the right, from north, south, east, west--and do not accept this deal,
and we shouldn't either.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), another member of our committee.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I was thinking what a
difference a week does not make. The vast majority of the people in my
congressional district were opposed to fast track last week, and they
are even more opposed to fast track this week.
We have seen fast track before. We have seen the jobs leave our
community, our district, our State, and our Nation fast enough. They
don't need our help. They don't need anybody else's help. We need to
create jobs here in America, not have them flee.
I agree with my colleagues who have said vote ``no.'' I agree with
the people of my congressional district, and I shall vote ``no.''
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Cuellar).
Mr. CUELLAR. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I support TPA to give the President the authority to negotiate this
agreement. It is very simple. A lot of those countries are already able
to send their goods into our country duty free. What we want to do is
allow our exporting companies to be able to export to those countries
duty free, also, so we can send our goods over there.
Look at what has happened in Texas. Texas exported more than $289
billion last year, up 146 percent from 2004. Let's look at the number
of companies that export. They are not the big companies. Ninety-three
percent of those 40,737 exporting companies were small- and medium-
sized businesses.
Again, Members, I ask you to please support TPA. It is good for
Texas; it is good for the United States, and it is a no-brainer to
allow us to export to those countries.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. David Scott).
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the people of this great
Nation are watching us today, and they are begging and pleading with us
to please vote down this bill.
Who knows better than the American people who live in the towns and
the cities where they have seen their manufacturing plants close and
they have seen their jobs shipped overseas? Every trade deal has done
it.
Let's look at the China deal. As a result of the China deal, 2
million manufacturing jobs have been shipped from America over to
China.
Look at NAFTA. Yes, it created jobs; but where did they create jobs?
They are in Mexico. Where did the manufacturing plants go? They went to
Mexico.
That is why the American people are ringing everybody's office and
urging them: Please let us not lose any more jobs.
Those of you who are concerned about income equality, the reason we
have that as a burning issue in the heart and soul, particularly of
middle class America, is because we are seeing the middle class vanish.
These are the jobs. These manufacturing jobs, ladies and gentlemen,
are not where the big corporate presidents make millions of dollars.
Yes, they are going to make plenty of millions of dollars; but these
jobs go into the middle section of our economic stream and the lower
income.
Look at Akron, Ohio; look at Atlanta, Georgia; look at Chicago; look
at Detroit. They were once vibrant cities. The backbone of America is
manufacturing, and we are shipping it out to the world.
You know what else we are shipping out there? We are shipping these
jobs--not only that, the profits of these companies. Last year, $2
trillion of profits were held in these overseas accounts, away from our
taxing structure.
Can't you see America is getting weaker because of these trade
policies? I urge you to vote ``no'' and stand up for the American
people for a change.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, first, I thank the ranking member for yielding
and, once again, for his tremendous leadership.
I rise in strong opposition to this bill and to once again say ``no''
to fast track. This legislation cynically uses a bill that would exempt
retired Federal police officers and firefighters from paying a penalty
on withdrawals from their retirement accounts if they retire after the
age of 50. What does that have to do with fast track? Absolutely
nothing--this is just plain wrong.
What is more, we know now that the Senate is considering attaching
the Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, to the recently passed African
Growth and Accountability Act, better known as AGOA, as a means to get
this flawed trade package passed.
That is why yesterday, my colleagues Congressional Black Caucus Chair
Congressman Butterfield, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Congressman Keith
Ellison, and myself sent a letter to the Senate leadership expressing
our opposition to what they are trying to do in using AGOA as a
bargaining chip.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, June 17, 2015.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
United States Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Harry Reid,
United States Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Reid: We
write to urge you to expeditiously pass H.R. 1295, the Trade
Preferences Extension Act of 2015, without attaching
unrelated amendments. If passed, the bill would go to the
President and reauthorize the African Growth and Opportunity
Act (AGOA) until the end of FY 2025.
AGOA is too important to be used as a bargaining chip to
pass unrelated trade legislation. As you know, AGOA is not
controversial and passed out of the House of Representatives
with almost 400 votes. AGOA is a trade preference program
that is usually noncontroversial, and thus voice voted. It is
the centerpiece of relations between the United States and
sub-Saharan Africa. Though a small percentage of overall
trade by the United States, AGOA has helped enhance trade,
investment, job creation, and democratic institutions
throughout Africa.
In its current form, AGOA expires September 30, 2015. It is
imperative that the Senate move H.R. 1295 along to
reauthorize the program soon. Delays will not only negatively
affect global supply chains, but also adversely affect the
livelihoods of individuals whose jobs come from AGOA.
The House has already passed H.R. 1295 to reauthorize AGOA.
We urge the Senate to follow suit without delay and send the
bill to President Obama's desk.
Sincerely,
GK Butterfield,
Member of Congress,
Karen Bass,
Member of Congress,
Barbara Lee,
Member of Congress,
Keith Ellison,
Member of Congress.
Ms. LEE. AGOA is a growth and trade act. That is a trade preference
program that has helped enhance trade investment and job creation to
democratic institutions throughout Africa.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.
Ms. LEE. In no way should that be used as a bargaining chip on this
bill. It is outrageous. Members should not have to choose between
programs that they support, like TAA and AGOA, and then supporting fast
track.
These procedural gimmicks are outrageous, and they are fundamentally
dishonest. If Members fall for this maneuver, we not only risk
imperiling the TAA, a program that many of our constituents rely on,
but also AGOA.
We have got to vote ``no'' on this bill, ``no'' to attaching TAA to
AGOA. Let's get back to the drawing board and come up with a real fair,
free, and transparent trade bill.
[[Page H4522]]
{time} 1145
Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Sherman), ranking member on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, if you vote for this bill, you get fast
track without Trade Adjustment Assistance. There is no assurance Trade
Adjustment Assistance will come to this floor or that it will come to
this floor in a form that either Republicans or Democrats will support.
The supporters of this deal can't make their case without repeating
demonstrably false statistics. The fact is we won a $177 billion trade
deficit in goods with the countries with which we have free trade
agreements. The $75 billion surplus in services brings the net to over
a $100 billion deficit.
How have so many Members been misled by charlatan lobbyists into
coming to this floor and giving false statistics? They are given this
slippery phrase: Go down to the floor and talk about what has happened
since NAFTA.
Now, ``since NAFTA'' usually sounds like, well, since the early
1990s. What they mean is excluding NAFTA. Excluding NAFTA when we
review free trade agreements is like excluding LeBron James when you
evaluate the Cavaliers.
This bill is catastrophic for our national security. It hollows out
our manufacturing base, and it is the greatest gift to China that we
could possibly make because it enshrines the sacrosanct nature of
currency manipulation. It says, in the future, countries can manipulate
their currency all they want and there will be no accounting for it.
In addition, the rules of origin provisions allow goods that are
admitted to be 50 or 60 percent made in China--that are actually 70 or
80 percent made in China--to get fast-tracked into the United States.
So China gets 80 percent of the benefit of this agreement without
having to admit a single American export.
As for Vietnam, our workers are going to have to compete against 56-
cent-an-hour labor.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LEVIN. I yield an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. SHERMAN. We are told that we will get free access to the
Vietnamese markets. Vietnam doesn't have freedom. Vietnam doesn't have
markets. They are not going to buy our exports any more than their
Communist Party decides to do so.
The chairman points out that with trade comes influence. That is
right. There will be Nike lobbyists here, financed by this bill and its
effects, lobbying against going after Vietnam for its oppression of
religion and its oppression of unions. So they will have influence here
in Washington. They will continue not to have freedom, and we will
continue to lose jobs.
THE TRADE DEFICIT WITH FTA PARTNERS
MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE WITH FTA COUNTRIES
[In thousands of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Domestic U.S. Imports for
Country Exports 2014 Consumption 2014 2014 Balance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Australia................................................. 24,460,776 10,846,176 13,614,600
Bahrain................................................... 996,619 930,049 66,570
Canada.................................................... 262,930,650 345,304,263 -82,373,613
Chile..................................................... 15,311,892 9,501,206 5,810,686
Colombia.................................................. 18,313,501 17,162,947 1,150,554
Costa Rica................................................ 6,289,716 9,493,622 -3,203,906
Dominican Rep............................................. 7,218,421 4,462,740 2,755,681
El Salvador............................................... 3,062,786 2,390,272 672,514
Guatemala................................................. 5,653,385 4,140,518 1,512,867
Honduras.................................................. 5,686,432 4,511,855 1,174,577
Israel.................................................... 7,894,126 23,054,059 -15,159,933
Jordan.................................................... 1,971,195 1,354,296 616,899
Korea..................................................... 42,010,900 68,602,393 -26,591,493
Mexico.................................................... 192,706,833 292,481,624 -99,774,791
Morocco................................................... 2,044,141 1,010,429 1,033,712
Nicaragua................................................. 905,977 3,079,467 -2,173,490
Oman...................................................... 1,911,822 974,788 937,034
Panama.................................................... 9,737,362 386,123 9,351,239
Peru...................................................... 8,891,414 6,029,607 2,861,807
Singapore................................................. 26,468,896 16,259,527 10,209,369
-----------------------------------------------------
Total................................................. 644,466,844 821,975,961 -177,509,117
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Services Trade Balance With FTA Countries
According to the Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic
Analysis, we ran a surplus in services of $75 billion with
FTA Countries as of 2013, the last year for which we have
data on our services trade broken down for the FTA countries
as a group. Assuming normal growth for 2014, our surplus in
services is roughly $77 billion.
Therefore, our TOTAL TRADE BALANCE with FTA partner
countries is just over $100 billion. We run a significant
deficit with FTA Countries.
Explanation: There are different methods for measuring the
trade balance of the United States. The table above uses the
most accurate data for measuring the value of goods
(merchandise) actually ``Made in the USA'' and exported from
the United States to the various countries listed. The source
for our goods data is the International Trade Commission
(ITC) dataweb, available at http://dataweb.usitc.gov. ITC
measures exports in two different ways (``Total Exports'' and
``Domestic Exports'').
We use ``Domestic Exports.'' According to the ITC,
``Domestic Exports measures goods that are grown, produced
and manufactured in the United States, or goods of foreign
origin that have been changed in the United States.'' FTA
proponents like to use an alternative measurement, ``Total
Exports,'' which ``measures the total movement of goods out
of the United States to foreign countries,'' whether those
goods were made or altered by U.S. workers in the United
States or not--it includes goods that were simply transiting
the United States without alteration. Counting these ``Re-
Exports'' that are included in the ``Total Exports''
measurement will give a distorted bilateral trade balance for
given countries because it drastically over-counts exports.
For similar reasons and in order to give an accurate, apples
to apples comparison, on the import side we use ``Imports for
Consumption'' which includes only imports that are not re-
exported. Using the alternative ITC measurement for imports,
``Total Imports,'' would overstate imports by counting those
goods coming into the United States that are going to be re-
exported. See http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/
tradestatsnote.pdf for more on these terms and what the
measurements represent.
Services data. Ideally our nation's trade balance figures
would provide the trade balance for both goods and services.
However, services are more difficult for government agencies
to track, and the agencies therefore do not break the trade
data down consistently for every partner country, every year.
Also, the agencies cannot compile services data as quickly as
merchandise data. We use a 2013 services balance figure for
FTA countries in the aggregate that the Commerce Department's
Bureau of Economic Analysis provided to the Chamber of
Commerce for a report touting FTAs. We assume growth of about
$5 billion in the positive services balance for 2014. See the
Chamber report for these services data at https://
www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/
open_door_trade_report.pdf.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. How much time remains for both sides?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Wisconsin has 22\1/2\
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Michigan has 10\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. We are the only two speakers left on our side.
Because of deference to our Members from South Carolina who are trying
to get home to this tragedy, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Tiberi), and then I am just going to hold to close just for
our South Carolina Members.
Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, read the bill. I have got it right here. The
only thing different is the number at the top has changed. The content
is the same.
[[Page H4523]]
TPA is not a trade deal. It is a process that holds this President
accountable. It sets in motion Congress inserting itself.
By the way, NAFTA, I mean, I just continue to get blown away by the
misinformation. No wonder the American people get confused.
I take this personally. As the gentleman from New Jersey knows, my
dad lost his job way before NAFTA. We have a trade surplus in
manufacturing with NAFTA. We have a trade surplus in services with
NAFTA. We have a trade surplus in agriculture, food, and beverages with
NAFTA. In fact, we have a trade surplus with NAFTA, if you take out oil
and energy products. We have a trade surplus in manufacturing with
NAFTA. I do get fired up about this.
Mr. Speaker, 95 percent of the world's population is outside the
United States. A multinational corporation can move anywhere it wants
to, a Fortune 500 company can move anywhere it wants to, and they do.
Lake Shore, in my district, a family-owned business, they cannot.
This is about breaking down barriers for Lake Shore, for Screen
Machine, because they can't move a plant overseas, and they are at a
competitive disadvantage. A large corporation can move. They can't.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is about jobs. This is about the American
worker. This is about the fact that we have the ability today to
complete anywhere in the world if those trade barriers are broken down.
We have to break them down, Mr. Speaker. One out of every five jobs
is trade-related. They are good jobs.
Vote ``yes'' on TPA. Vote ``yes'' for the American worker.
Mr. LEVIN. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Bass).
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, last week I spoke in favor of H.R. 1891, the
AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act of 2015. In the middle of tremendous
controversy and tension over TPA, it was encouraging to have
legislation that wasn't controversial, in fact, had overwhelming
support with 397 votes. The bill was sent to the Senate, and we were
hopeful that H.R. 1891 would have already made it to the President's
desk.
Unfortunately, the bill is a victim of its own success. So many
rumors are floating around that because AGOA is popular, supported by
both Democrats, Republicans, Senators, and House Members, that now
Senators are considering adding more controversial bills into AGOA.
We are hearing TAA might be added. The press is even reporting
consideration is being given to using AGOA as a vehicle to extend the
Ex-Im Bank. We hear the thinking is, if TAA failed in the House last
week, if it is added in to AGOA, we will all vote for it.
AGOA can and should and stand on its own. The Senate should pass AGOA
and send it to the President.
Mr. LEVIN. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms.
Velazquez), who is the ranking member on the Committee on Small
Business.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, once again, we are being asked to vote
for an agreement that will cost jobs, undermine environmental
protections, and erode workers' rights, all in the name of so-called
free trade.
This agreement is being negotiated in the dark, behind closed doors.
That secretive process may benefit large, multinational companies and
their lobbyists, but it does not help small manufacturers in Brooklyn.
It does nothing for New Yorkers struggling to raise a family while
keeping their jobs from being exported.
When there is a bad process, we end up with a bad deal for American
workers, and we have seen this in the past. New York lost 374,000
manufacturing jobs since NAFTA and the World Trade Organization
agreements.
This vote, Mr. Speaker, comes down to a simple question: Are you
going to side with Wall Street, large corporations, and their
lobbyists, or will you stand with working families in your district? I
will take the latter.
Vote ``no.''
Mr. LEVIN. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Doggett).
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, in Washington we never seem to lack for
self-certified smart people. They are the folks who know what is best
for you and your family.
While they, today, are insisting on railroading through this fast-
track trade deal--and they say it is so sweet for working families--is
it so unreasonable to ask: What do the workers think about this bill?
While the environmental provisions have been secreted away from the
public, we do know that USTR does not believe in environmental law
enforcement. Is it unreasonable to stop and ask: What do those who
advocate for clean water and clean air and conservation of our
resources think about this trade deal?
I believe they support fair trade. They recognize that it raises all
boats, but unfair trade sinks too many of them. They are capsized by
competing with those who pay an average minimum wage of 60 cents an
hour and whose only worker organization is the Communist Party in
Vietnam.
I believe our workers deserve respect. This bill asks American
businesses to go out and compete with countries that mistreat their
workers, that pollute their air and water and destroy their natural
resources, and that deflate or adjust their currency, manipulating it
in ways that are unfair.
Railroading this bill through today will deny any opportunity, which
we have struggled so long for so many months to try to achieve to make
this a better right-track bill. The fast-trackers have rejected every
constructive improvement that we have offered to this measure. And all
of us here in Congress have to concede we know less about what is in
this trade bill than the Vietnamese Politburo, than the Malaysian
Government that has countenanced sex trafficking.
We need an open, fair process to advance real trade opportunities for
all families. Reject this fast track.
Mr. LEVIN. We had one additional speaker. I don't see her, so I yield
myself the balance of my time to close.
I started off by saying it is said we should write the rules, not
China. That is true. We have been striving to try to help write the
rules. We did so for years.
We introduced a substitute bill that outlined where we were coming
from and where we thought these negotiations should go. That wasn't
even given time for discussion.
So here is what we are left with. When you vote for TPA under these
circumstances, essentially what we are saying to this administration,
it is essentially a blank check. They may talk. They may let us see
some of the documents, but often in ways we can't discuss them
publicly.
This is likely to add up to a TPP that will be even more
controversial than this TPA. For that reason, I strongly urge that, as
was said earlier, we slow down this process in order to try to find a
route to a TPP that would have broad bipartisan support. That has
always been my aim, rather than this kind of vote with a few handfuls
of Democratic votes making this far, far, far from a bipartisan vote.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
For those who are coming on the floor protesting this particular
process from the minority, it is the stunt pulled last week that
brought about this process.
We have talked a lot about what TPA is. It is a process, not a trade
agreement.
I want every Member in this body to think about what this vote
represents. It is one that will speak loudly about our political
system: Can it still work?
It is a vote about what kind of Congress we want to be: Will we
empower ourselves in trade agreements or just let the administration do
whatever it wants?
It is a vote about what kind of country we want to have: Are we still
committed to leading? Are we still the symbol of freedom in free
enterprise?
Mr. Speaker, this is a vote for accountability and for transparency.
This is a vote for a stronger economy and higher wages. This is a vote
for our system of free enterprise. This is a vote for American
leadership. This is a vote to declare that America still has it. This
is a vote to reestablish America's credibility.
The world is watching. Vote ``yes.''
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2146, the Trade
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015. For the past several
[[Page H4524]]
years I have had many conversations about trade with the people of
Northwest Oregon. I've spoken with farmers, environmentalists,
semiconductor manufacturers, wine makers, workers, sports and outdoor
apparel employees, and others.
The district I represent has many trade-dependent jobs and
industries. We export a broad array of products--from computer chips to
potato chips. Last year in Oregon, nearly 6,000 Oregon companies
exported more than $20 billion in products. Expanding the overseas
markets for U.S. goods will help businesses expand in this country.
Trade agreements done right make it easier to sell American-made goods
and they level the playing field by reducing tariffs that currently
make it difficult for Oregonians to compete in many of the world's
markets.
This legislation is not the trade agreement itself, but rather a bill
through which Congress establishes requirements for the negotiation of
trade agreements and the procedure for Congress to use when voting on
whether to approve the agreement when it is final.
The Trade Priorities and Accountability Act earned my vote because it
requires the President to negotiate a trade agreement that includes
strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards, fosters
innovation, would help expand exports, provides transparency for the
American people, and guarantees a meaningful role for Congress in trade
negotiations.
I strongly support the rights of workers and their ability to
collectively bargain and work in a safe environment. I also oppose
child labor and forced labor. The Trade Priorities and Accountability
Act raises the bar in these areas and includes provisions that require
trading partners to comply with internationally-accepted labor
standards and face trade sanctions if they do not. For the first time
it includes human rights--one of the cornerstones of our democratic
values--as a negotiating objective. Oregon's First Congressional
District is known for its natural treasures--from the Pacific Ocean to
the Columbia River to the Clatsop State Forest--and it is imperative
that they be preserved for future generations. Deciding between
conserving our natural resources and growing our economy is a false
choice; we can and must do both. The Trade Priorities and
Accountability Act ensures that our clean air, land, and water will not
be up for negotiation.
The bill also protects intellectual property to safeguard innovation
and fight piracy overseas, but with provisions to ensure that those
protections will not impede access to much-needed medicines for people
in developing countries.
The Trade Priorities and Accountability Act requires trade agreements
to contain high standards and protections, and it also requires that
the agreements include strong enforcement provisions to make clear that
the standards and protections will be upheld and enforced.
It is important to my constituents that any trade agreement be
accessible and transparent to the public. The Trade Priorities and
Accountability Act includes unprecedented access to trade agreements;
the entire final agreement must be made available to the public for a
minimum of 60 days before the President signs it. In addition, after
the full text of the trade agreement becomes public, there will still
be months before Congress votes on whether to approve it.
To earn my vote, any trade agreement must be good for Americans. The
jobs we gain by expanding exports tend to pay high wages, but there is
a risk that some workers may be displaced by trade and by
globalization. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is an important
program to help workers transition into new fields by investing in
skills and worker retaining. Without a reauthorization, TAA will expire
at the end of September 2015. I voted in favor of TAA last week, but
unfortunately it did not pass. But let me be very clear, I voted for
the TPA again today because the Speaker, the Senate Majority Leader,
and the President have committed that Trade Adjustment Assistance and
customs enforcement legislation will also move forward without delay.
I was deeply concerned that an early version of TAA legislation
included cuts to Medicare. Seniors serve our country, contribute to our
economy, raise families, and strengthen communities across the nation.
I urged House leadership to eliminate this provision. The bill I voted
for did not cut Medicare and I will continue to work with my colleagues
to ensure seniors are not singled out to pay for this program.
This trade package, however, is far from perfect, and as we move
forward I will continue to work to pass TAA and improve the trade
agreement. I am very disappointed that partisan language to tie the
administration's hands on climate change was inserted at the last
minute into the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which
passed the House of Representatives last week without my support. I am
also very concerned that two very smart enforcement provisions offered
by my colleague from Oregon, Representative Earl Blumenauer, were
deleted. His ``Green 301'' and enforcement fund provisions were very
important to the overall effectiveness of the customs bill, and I will
encourage the conferees to insist upon their inclusion in the bill we
ultimately send to the President's desk for signature.
We live in a changing and global economy. Markets, industries, and
technologies evolve and American businesses and workers need to be able
to react and adapt to thrive. A 21st century trade agreement broadens
our country's reach and, done right, leads to more opportunity, more
growth, and more job creation. It also supports the principle of trade
according to fair rules, equally applied, as opposed to all parties
doing whatever they want on a playing field that is far from level.
I am committed to policies that support a strong, long-term economy
for hardworking Oregonians and Americans. A trade agreement done right
can help achieve this goal, and passing H.R. 2146 is an important step
in this process.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 321, the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Ryan).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on adoption of the motion will be followed by a 5-minute
vote on the passage of H.R. 160.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 218,
noes 208, not voting 8, as follows:
[Roll No. 374]
AYES--218
Abraham
Allen
Amodei
Ashford
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bera
Beyer
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Blumenauer
Boehner
Bonamici
Bost
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coffman
Cole
Comstock
Conaway
Connolly
Cooper
Costa
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Davis (CA)
Delaney
DelBene
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Duffy
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
Farr
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gibbs
Goodlatte
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Hartzler
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Himes
Hinojosa
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Kelly (PA)
Kilmer
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Larsen (WA)
Latta
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meehan
Meeks
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mullin
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Nunes
O'Rourke
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Peters
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Polis
Pompeo
Price, Tom
Quigley
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (NY)
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rouzer
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Sewell (AL)
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Wasserman Schultz
Weber (TX)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zinke
NOES--208
Adams
Aderholt
Aguilar
Amash
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bishop (GA)
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Buck
Burgess
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
[[Page H4525]]
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clawson (FL)
Clay
Cleaver
Cohen
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conyers
Cook
Courtney
Crowley
Cummings
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Donovan
Doyle, Michael F.
Duckworth
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farenthold
Fattah
Fleming
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garrett
Gibson
Gohmert
Graham
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Griffith
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Harris
Hastings
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Honda
Hoyer
Huffman
Hunter
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (GA)
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kaptur
Katko
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Labrador
Langevin
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lee
Levin
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lummis
Lynch
MacArthur
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Massie
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McKinley
McNerney
Meadows
Meng
Mooney (WV)
Moore
Moulton
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
Norcross
Nugent
Pallone
Palmer
Pascrell
Pearce
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Perry
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Poliquin
Posey
Price (NC)
Rangel
Richmond
Rohrabacher
Rothfus
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Russell
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Webster (FL)
Welch
Westmoreland
Wilson (FL)
Wittman
Yarmuth
Zeldin
NOT VOTING--8
Byrne
Clyburn
Davis, Rodney
Gosar
Jolly
Kelly (MS)
Payne
Young (AK)
{time} 1225
So the motion to concur was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated against:
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 374 I would have voted ``no''
on passage. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''
Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 374 I intended to vote ``no.''
____________________