AFF: AT: AT: Debt Ceiling Thumper- No Executive Order

Bottom of the Docket – No August Vote

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that it’s unlikely that three key trade deals — with Colombia, South Korea and Panama — will make their way through Congress before the August recess. A disagreement between congressional leaders and the White House over an assistance program for workers has held up the pacts. In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell said that he believed “every sticking point seems to have been resolved” on the trade deals, but that the tight calendar facing Congress makes it unlikely they will be taken up before lawmakers leave Washington in early August. “I recognize that the calendar is tight,” McConnell said. “We’ve got a lot of other urgent business to take care of around here. So I don’t expect to finish any of this before August. Still, I think the administration should submit them anyway as a show of good faith with our trading allies in Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Then we can work to pass them when we return.”

SKFTA won’t be sent to Congress until after August recess

Klein, 7/22/11, Voice of America (Kent, “U.S. Trade Deals Delayed”, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/US-Trade-Deals-Delayed-125976953.html, 7/22/11)

The Obama administration has confirmed that it will delay sending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress until lawmakers return from a scheduled August recess. The White House and Republicans disagree over a program designed to help Americans who lose their jobs to overseas competition. Putting the three trade deals into effect has been a White House priority almost since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. His predecessor, President George W. Bush, reached the agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Since then, the Obama administration has linked the deals with its efforts to revitalize the sluggish economic recovery, as the president said on July 8. “Today, Congress can advance trade agreements that will help businesses sell more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America, supporting thousands of jobs here at home. That could be done right now,” Obama said. Yet, the White House and Republicans in Congress have disagreed over several provisions of the deals.

No vote before August – the bill is coupled to the TAA

Republican Sens. Roy Blunt and Rob Portman said Friday that their Republican group would provide more than enough votes to ensure Senate passage of a stand-alone, compromise version of the worker assistance bill. Blunt said he had been working with his House of Representatives and Senate colleagues for five years to find a way to advance the three trade agreements. "Today we have that path forward," he said. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, who as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is in charge of trade issues, said in response that "there has never been a question that TAA would have to pass in tandem with the free trade agreements, and we are open to any serious path that achieves that outcome." He said the trade deals will "provide a major boost to our economy, but we need to make sure U.S. workers have all the resources to succeed in a global economy, and TAA is the way to do that." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which like other business groups has been pressing Congress and the White House to act on the trade deals, praised the 12 Republicans for working to end the impasse. "With our economic recovery stalling, we need to move now on these job-creating trade agreements," said the chamber's president and CEO, Thomas J. Donohue. The Obama administration is behind the trade deals, which have been pending since the George W. Bush administration, but has said that Congress must at the same time act to extend expired sections of the four-decade-old program to assist workers hurt by foreign competition with financial and retraining aid. House and Senate Republicans critical of the expense of the assistance program have said that legislation to extend it must be separate from votes on the trade bills. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday he was committed to working with Sen. Harry Reid, head of the Senate's Democratic majority, "to ensure a fair floor process for my members so they have an opportunity to try to amend a stand-alone Trade Adjustment Assistance bill separate from the three free trade agreements. That way, if the administration can generate the votes it needs, the TAA bill will pass on its merits." McConnell acknowledged that he did not expect this to happen before the August recess. In the House, Republican Rep. Dave Camp, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade, said in a statement that he applauded the Senate Republicans for their approach to the worker aid bill and the trade deals. He repeated his promise to have his committee vote on both on the same day if the administration submits the trade agreements separately from the TAA bill.

Arguments resolved on SKFTA, but won’t pass till after lawmakers leave Washington early August – bottom of Congress agenda

Sonmez, 7/22/11, Deg. In Government from Harvard U (Felicia, “McConnel: Progress on trade deals ahead of August recess unlikely”, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/mcconnell-progress-on-trade-deals-ahead-of-august-recess-not-likely/2011/07/22/gIQAXf6oTI_blog.html, 7/22/11)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that it’s unlikely that three key trade deals — with Colombia, South Korea and Panama — will make their way through Congress before the August recess. A disagreement between congressional leaders and the White House over an assistance program for workers has held up the pacts. In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell said that he believed “every sticking point seems to have been resolved” on the trade deals, but that the tight calendar facing Congress makes it unlikely they will be taken up before lawmakers leave Washington in early August. “I recognize that the calendar is tight,” McConnell said. “We’ve got a lot of other urgent business to take care of around here. So I don’t expect to finish any of this before August. Still, I think the administration should submit them anyway as a show of good faith with our trading allies in Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Then we can work to pass them when we return.”

SKFTA won’t be sent to Congress until after August recess

Klein, 7/22/11, Voice of America (Kent, “U.S. Trade Deals Delayed”, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/US-Trade-Deals-Delayed-125976953.html, 7/22/11)

The Obama administration has confirmed that it will delay sending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress until lawmakers return from a scheduled August recess. The White House and Republicans disagree over a program designed to help Americans who lose their jobs to overseas competition. Putting the three trade deals into effect has been a White House priority almost since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. His predecessor, President George W. Bush, reached the agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Since then, the Obama administration has linked the deals with its efforts to revitalize the sluggish economic recovery, as the president said on July 8. “Today, Congress can advance trade agreements that will help businesses sell more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America, supporting thousands of jobs here at home. That could be done right now,” Obama said. Yet, the White House and Republicans in Congress have disagreed over several provisions of the deals.

SKFTA Will Pass After the Recess

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk is optimistic that Congress would pass free-trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama shortly after lawmakers return from a month-long congressional recess in September. During a speech to the Bretton Woods Committee on Tuesday Kirk said that he believed that the Obama administration had worked out a deal with congressional leaders to ensure passage of the three trade pacts and Trade Adjustment Assistance, a retraining program for American workers displaced by trade. This is the first time that a US senior official has specifically mentioned the September timeline for the FTAs.