Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Senate Finance Committee Just Approved Fast Track Authority 20 to 6. Which Dems Voted for It?

After a long mark-up period, the Senate Finance Committee took its final vote on the trade promotion authority, or "fast track," bill that Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) had negotiated.

As I'm sure you all already know, fast track authority means that Congress hands over any rights to amend a trade deal, giving carte blanche to the president. This is a bad move on the simple ground that trade deals have a strong impact on domestic policy. It is even a worse move when one sees what is being negotiated in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) right now.

The Senate Finance Committee vote was 20 to 6.

7 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted for it.

Who were the 7 Democrats?

Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Mark Warner (D-VA)

5 Democrats and 1 Republican voted against it.

That lone Republican was Richard Burr (R-NC).

The 5 Democrats were the following:

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Bob Casey (D-PA)

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