Senate GOP'ers Oppose Amendment To Key Treaties

Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) expressed opposition Thursday towards the Korean, Columbian and Panamanian Treaties due to last minute amendments proposed by the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.

The Senate duo tagged the move as a “mock mark-up” and claimed that if their Democratic counterparts had proposed this amendment sooner, Republicans would support a discussion of the amendment and its spending implications.

“This bill would be really easy to pass if [the amendment] was just taken out,” Hatch said.

Hatch has proposed an amendment to legislation to implement the free-trade agreements that would strip out a restoration of funding for Trade-Adjustment Assistance, which was included after a bipartisan deal was worked out this week to renew the retraining program at a reduced level of spending.