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                      US Senate Revives Obama Trade Agenda

   by Michael Bowman

   The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to once again advance
   legislation facilitating the approval of two blockbuster trade pacts
   spanning the Atlantic and the Pacific.

   The procedural 60-37 vote revives President Barack Obama's trade
   agenda, which had been dealt a severe blow when [1]Trade Promotion
   Authority (TPA), which is often called "fast track," stalled on Capitol
   Hill earlier this month.

   ''"This is a very big vote. It's an important moment for the
   country," Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "It's
   demonstrating that both parties can work together to strengthen
   America's national security at home, and America's leadership abroad -
   instead of simply ceding the future in one of the world's
   fastest-growing regions to Chinese aggression."

   Thirteen pro-trade Democrats joined with Republicans to support the
   bill, including Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, a western U.S. state
   where many of his business constituents support trade with Asia.

   "Let's pry open foreign markets and send more of our exports abroad,"
   Wyden said. "Let's fight for the American brand against the trade
   cheats and the bad actors that are blocking our way."

   Ahead of the vote, scores of trade opponents protested outside Senate
   office buildings and pressed lawmakers to vote 'no'. One demonstrator.
   Margaret Flowers, said Tuesday's vote was disappointing but not a
   surprise.

   "It is really important in our minds that they [lawmakers] not just
   pass this vote quietly," Flowers said. "That they know and see that
   there are people that are opposed to what they are doing. We can't be
   silent."

   Inside the chamber, Democrat Sherrod Brown called the legislation
   immoral and shameful.

   "People are going to lose their jobs," Brown said. "What a betrayal we
   are inflicting on those workers if we make this decision today."

   The push on trade puts the White House in conflict with labor unions,
   environmentalists, and other elements of the progressive coalition that
   helped elect President Obama and numerous Democratic lawmakers.

   TPA mandates up-or-down congressional votes with no amendments allowed
   on two of the biggest trade deals in U.S. history: one with the
   European Union and another with Pacific Rim nations that, together,
   account for 40 percent of global economic output.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-senate-revives-obama-trade-agenda-
   /2834006.html

References

   1. http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=7701eb50-a0ef-4257-bfc1-b06efe725b8c
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-senate-revives-obama-trade-agenda-/2834006.html