Wall Street Journal
By William Mauldin
June 10, 2015
Rep.
Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is seeking to prevent President Barack Obama from
using trade agreements to make changes to U.S. laws on immigration and
climate change, a move
aimed at reassuring conservatives wary of voting to give Mr. Obama
special trade authority.
Some
Republicans, led by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), are warning that Mr.
Obama could use so-called fast track legislation—which would expedite a
sweeping Pacific trade
agreement—not only to lift not trade barriers but also to ease the
movement of people and workers. Other Republicans are concerned about
the Obama administration’s recent negotiations on climate change and
efforts to change environmental rules without the
participation of Congress.
Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) has even warned that a future president
could use the six-year fast track legislation, also known as trade
promotion authority, to expedite
the passage of a trade agreement that could roll back rules on Wall
Street.
Many
officials, Republican leaders and trade experts dismiss these concerns
as far-fetched, pointing out that Congress still gets a vote on the
final trade agreement,
although without the ability to amend or tie up the deal in procedural
limbo.
Still,
Republican leaders are seeking to address broad concerns among House
conservatives who don’t trust Mr. Obama to negotiate internationally,
even under the guidelines
set through fast track.
So
Mr. Ryan inserted language in a separate customs bill that would in
turn amend fast track to prevent changes to climate or immigration laws
via trade agreements.
“It’s
just making sure that if the administration wants to go down a path of
seeking legislative changes in climate or immigration, they can’t do it
through trade agreements,”
Mr. Ryan told a hearing of the House Rules Committee on Wednesday.
House
Republicans put the changes in the customs bill because they want to
pass a version of fast track that’s identical to the one passed last
month by the Senate. GOP
leaders have scheduled a vote on fast track for Friday. Dozens of House
Republicans are expected to join the vast majority of Democrats in
opposing fast track.
The
new climate language would make it an overall negotiating objective “to
ensure that trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or
obligate the United States
with respect to global warming or climate change.”
“House
Republicans are using the Customs bill as a vehicle to further in TPA
their rigid ideological agenda,” said Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the
top Democrat on Mr.
Ryan’s Ways and Means Committee. “They also strike any form of
meaningful action against currency manipulation and weaken trade
enforcement provisions.”
Environmental
groups aren’t happy with the changes. “The president should start by
telling Republican leadership and the public that the provision in the
customs amendment
is unacceptable,” said Luísa Abbott Galvão of Friends of the Earth.
“President Obama cannot credibly claim that trade deals will force other
countries to raise their environmental standards if he allows the same
deals to secure a pass for the U.S. to keep
dumping carbon into the planet’s atmosphere.”
Mr.
Ryan’s changes may be more symbolic than binding. Even if the changes
to the negotiating objectives are signed into law, lawmakers say a
president could still choose
to insert climate and immigration rules into a trade agreement and
enact them through fast track, if Congress signed off at the end. A
spokesman said Mr. Ryan is committed to removing a trade agreement from
fast track consideration if it contains changes to
immigration law.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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