WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- Lawmakers and the White House have reached a deal to combine passage of three trade agreements with a jobs program, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jay Carney greeted word of the bipartisan effort to tie the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to the legislation providing retraining and other benefits for displaced U.S. workers positively, saying it would bolster employment.
"As a result of extensive negotiations, we now have an agreement on the underlying terms for a meaningful renewal of a strengthened TAA [Trade Adjustment Assistance]," he said. "The president embraces these critical elements of TAA needed to ensure that workers have the best opportunity to get good jobs that keep them in the middle class. Now it is time to move forward with TAA, and with the Korea, Colombia, and Panama trade agreements, which will support tens of thousands of jobs."
Baucus told The Hill the deal has the backing of House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.
"The road to this point has not been an easy one, but our economy needs these jobs and these opportunities," Baucus said in a statement. "That's why we have continued to fight to pass these job-creating agreements and restore this vital worker assistance program. We think this package can get the support needed to become law. American workers and our economy can't afford for us to wait any longer to move forward."
He said he would test the waters for fast-track support of the three trade agreements Thursday.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, expressed dissatisfaction with the plan to mix the trade agreements with what he called "a welfare program of questionable benefit at a time when our nation is broke."
"TAA should move through the Congress on its own merit and should stand up to rigorous Senate debate," Hatch said. "President Obama should send up our pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and Korea and allow for a clean vote."
But Carney said President Barack Obama, who wants to see U.S. exports doubled in five years, believes the agreement "levels the playing field for American workers and reflects American values," with the Trade Adjustment Assistance program helping American workers who lose their jobs due to increased imports or outsourcing.
