[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9954-9955]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                TRADE PREFERENCES EXTENSION ACT OF 2015

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the 
Senate the message to accompany H.R. 1295.
  The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message 
from the House of Representatives:

       Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the 
     Senate to the title of the bill (H.R. 1295) entitled ``An Act 
     to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the 
     process for making determinations with respect to whether 
     organizations are exempt from taxation under section 
     501(c)(4) of such Code,'' and that the House agree to the 
     amendment of the Senate to the bill, with an amendment.


                Motion to Concur With Amendment No. 2065

       (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute.)

  Mr. McCONNELL. I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate 
amendment to H.R. 1295 with an amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] moves to concur 
     in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1295 
     with an amendment numbered 2065.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                Amendment No. 2066 to Amendment No. 2065

  Mr. McCONNELL. I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2066 to amendment No. 2065.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end add the following.
       ``This Act shall take effect 1 day after the date of 
     enactment.''


                Motion to Refer With Amendment No. 2067

  Mr. McCONNELL. I move to refer to the Committee on Finance H.R. 1295 
with instructions.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] moves to refer 
     H.R. 1295 to the Committee on Finance with instructions being 
     amendment numbered 2067.

  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end add the following.
       ``This Act shall take effect 2 days after the date of 
     enactment.''

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                           Amendment No. 2068

  Mr. McCONNELL. I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2068 to the instructions of the motion to 
     refer H.R. 1295.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the Instructions
       Strike ``2 days'' and insert ``3 days''

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                Amendment No. 2069 to Amendment No. 2068

  Mr. McCONNELL. I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 2069 to amendment No. 2068.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment
       Strike ``3 days'' and insert ``4 days''


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. I have a cloture motion at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 
     1295, an act to extend the African Growth and Opportunity 
     Act, the Generalized System of Preferences, the preferential 
     duty treatment program for Haiti, and for other purposes, 
     with an amendment.
         Mitch McConnell, Johnny Isakson, David Perdue, Chuck 
           Grassley, Thom Tillis, Marco Rubio, Daniel Coats, John 
           Cornyn, Michael B. Enzi, Kelly Ayotte, Orrin G. Hatch, 
           Roger F. Wicker, Deb Fischer, Rob Portman, Cory 
           Gardner, Richard Burr, Roy Blunt.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum 
under rule XXII be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, following today's encouraging vote over 
in the House, I wish to update the Senate on where we stand with regard 
to trade.
  First, a brief look back at how we got where we are today. Back in 
April, the Finance Committee came together to advance four trade bills 
on a big bipartisan vote. It was everyone's goal at that time to 
consider all of those bills and to begin the process of passing this 
significant trade agenda, and it remains everybody's goal now. That is 
a point that has been proven many times over.
  When our Democratic colleagues insisted on tying TAA to TPA, it was 
difficult for most on my side to swallow. Many in my conference opposed 
TAA. But with the larger goal in mind--and understanding that for my 
friends on the other side, TAA has often ridden alongside TPA--we put 
the two policies together. This was not an easy lift, but in the 
interest of moving forward, we compromised.
  The process was not easy. We had a few close calls. We even worked 
through a filibuster to address our colleagues' concerns, but all the 
hard work paid off. It eventually led to a good result at the end of 
last month, a 62-to-37 vote in the Senate in favor of more 
opportunities for American paychecks, for American workers and farmers, 
and for the American economy.
  Unfortunately, though, as we all know now, that was not to be the end 
of the Senate's role in the process. That is OK. Not every plan turns 
out perfectly every time, but the point is that you don't give up. The 
American people didn't send us here to sulk but to work through tough 
problems. So that is what we are going to do.

[[Page 9955]]

  Here is what it is going to take: No. 1, working together toward the 
shared goal of a win for the American people; No. 2, trusting each 
other to get there. I think we can do that.
  So here are the next steps. In the judgment of Members of both 
parties in the House and in the Senate, our best way forward now is to 
consider TPA and TAA separately. That means TAA will come second after 
TPA, but the votes will be there to pass it--reluctantly, not happily, 
but they will be there if it means getting something far more important 
accomplished for the American people.
  To that end, I just filed cloture on the motion to concur with the 
House-passed TPA bill. I then filed cloture on the AGOA and preferences 
bill--with an amendment that adds to that bill TAA. This puts the 
Senate on a procedural glidepath to consider and then pass the TPA 
bill, the AGOA and preferences bill, and TAA. So assuming everyone has 
a little faith and votes the same way they did just a few weeks ago, we 
will be able to get all of those bills to the President soon.
  I know there is a fourth bill, too, the Customs bill. Given the 
complex and thorny procedural processes at work on that bill, we will 
have to turn to that one as soon as we are able--but we will turn to 
it. It will have to go to a conference committee and then return to the 
Senate floor, where it, too, will be passed and sent to the White 
House.
  I know it is hard to do, but if we step back a few paces and recall 
what we were all asking for just a few weeks ago, we should be able to 
take some satisfaction in all of this. It means that before July 4, the 
President will have signed TPA, TAA, and the AGOA and preferences bill, 
and we will be well on our way toward enactment of a robust Customs 
package. All of that together would be quite an accomplishment. All it 
is going to take is some hard work, some faith in one another, and 
everybody voting the same way the next time they voted the last time.

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