–Senate Minority Leader: ‘Time To Get Moving’ On Three Trade Agreements
–Administration Must Submit Panama, Colombia, South Korea Pacts
–Expects Senate To Pass Three-Week Stop-Gap This Week
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said
Monday that Republicans will block a vote on any high-level trade
nomination, including Commerce Secretary, until President Obama submits
to Congress bilateral trade agreements between the U.S. and Colombia,
Panama and South Korea.
At a briefing, McConnell said that it’s “time to get moving” on the
three bilateral trade agreements, adding that they have been
“languishing” for too long as Obama tries to assuage the concerns of
various unions.
McConnell said the president should submit these agreements “as
rapidly as possible.”
“This is about jobs,” he said.
McConnell sidestepped several questions about whether he would hold
up a vote on the South Korean agreement until all three agreements are
submitted by the administration.
McConnell made his threat to hold up any concrete votes by noting
that all Senate Republicans will send a letter to the president this
week demanding the submission of these trade agreements.
Current Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has been nominated to
be the U.S. ambassador to China.
On another matter, McConnell said that he expects the Senate to
pass this week a stop-gap spending bill funding the government until
April 8.
“We are going to pass a short-term CR this week,” he said of the
stop-gap bill.
“This is not going to be easy,” he added.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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