WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan today ruled that the substitute to the TPA bill offered by Ranking Member Levin could not be voted on in Ways and Means on the grounds that the Rules Committee has jurisdiction over the fast-track process and is outside of the Ways and Means Committee jurisdiction. That’s despite the fact that the TPA bill offered by Chairman Ryan being marked up today in Ways and Means has the same joint jurisdiction as the Levin substitute.
The ruling, which asserts that the Ways and Committee’s jurisdiction on TPA only relates to the trade aspects of the legislation, comes even as the Rules Committee is prepared to waive its jurisdiction over the bill - forgoing a vote before the TPA bill reaches the floor and preventing any ability to amend the fast-track process put forward in the Wyden-Hatch-Ryan TPA bill.
There is precedent for a Ways and Means vote on a TPA substitute that also amends a bill’s fast-track process, as the Committee allowed a vote on Ranking Member Charles B. Rangel’s TPA substitute in October 2001.
The TPA substitute offered today by Ranking Member Levin - the Right Track for TPP Act of 2015 - would not only include specific negotiating instructions on all of the major outstanding issues but also establish a TPP Advisory Group that must certify that the President has followed the negotiating instructions and adequately consulted with Congress. The Hatch-Wyden-Ryan bill leaves the certification of the negotiating objectives up to the Obama administration.
“The two TPA approaches before us today have the same joint jurisdiction. Republicans are blocking a vote on a substitute that would give Congress - not the administration - the authority to decide whether the administration has adhered to the negotiating instructions," said Ranking Member Levin. “The Hatch-Wyden-Ryan bill cedes the authority to the administration and this decision blocks any effort to change that."
A summary of the substitute offered by Ranking Member Levin is available here. The full text of the substitute is here.
The Right Track for TPP Act:
1. Includes specific negotiating instructions on all of the major outstanding issues in the TPP negotiations.
2. Does not provide for expedited consideration unless and until bipartisan groups of House and Senate trade advisors determine that the instructions were followed.
3. Has Congress write the consultation procedures, including what negotiating texts must be shared with Congress and stakeholders.
4. Includes two useable mechanisms to enable Congress to remove expedited consideration where necessary.
