July 12,2002

Grassley Named Conferee on Trade Legislation


WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance,today was named a conferee to negotiate the differences between Senate- and House-passed tradelegislation.

Grassley and Sen. Orrin Hatch are the Republican Senate conferees. Sens. Max Baucus, JohnRockefeller, and John Breaux are the Democratic Senate conferees.

“This is a good development,” Grassley said. “A conference on this historic legislation haslagged for too long. We need to get started. Our trading partners are moving on without us. Ourworkers and our economy need trade promotion authority to succeed. Now we have to get it done.With enough political will, I’m confident we can complete this conference by the August recess. Iwant the bill on the President’s desk this year.”

On Dec. 6, 2001, the House passed H.R. 3005, the Bipartisan Trade Promotion AuthorityAct, by a vote of 215 to 214. The House appointed conferees on June 26, 2002.

On May 23, 2002, the Senate passed H.R. 3009, the Trade Act of 2002, which includedrenewal of trade promotion authority, renewal and expansion of the Andean Trade Preference Act,renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences, re-authorization and expansion of the TradeAdjustment Assistant program, and re-authorization of the U.S. Customs Service.