Senate Backs TPA Procedural Motion, Paving Way for TPA OK

The Senate by a 60-37 vote OK'd a procedural motion on stand-alone trade promotion authority Tuesday, paving the way for final passage of TPA Wednesday, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Passage of the underlying TPA bill that the House has passed will let Senate leadership deliver that legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature after weeks of political wrangling (see 1506180059). Industry representatives immediately praised the procedural approval. The Senate is preparing to vote on the same cloture motion Thursday for an expanded preference package, and lawmakers could rally to pass that bill and send it back to the House Thursday, McConnell said. The House is ready to pass that legislation this week to send it to Obama, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. CEA President Gary Shapiro hailed the Senate’s procedural TPA vote and looks forward “to the bill’s successful passage” possibly as soon as Wednesday, he said in a Tuesday statement: CEA now calls on the Senate to pass TPA and give Obama and future presidents "the ability to negotiate critical trade agreements that drive sustained economic growth and strengthen our position in the global marketplace,” Shapiro said. With 75 percent, or $4 trillion, of the global telecom equipment and related services marketplace outside the U.S., TPA "is critical for advancing trade agreements that allow American businesses to take full advantage of these opportunities" and that ensure continued U.S. high-tech job growth, said Telecommunications Industry Association CEO Scott Belcher. The vote "brought us one step closer to realizing these goals, and we stand with other tech and communications industry leaders in urging the Senate to send TPA to the President's desk," he said in a written statement. The Trade Benefits America Coalition backs TPA, it wrote senators Monday. Coalition members include Apple, AT&T, BSA | The Software Alliance, Cisco, CEA, Intel, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and TIA, according to its letter and website.