Colin Woodall
Talk about getting Congress to ratify TPP, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, during the lame duck session has being going for weeks, and now that time has arrived. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s vice president of government affairs, Colin Woodall, says this is at the top of the association’s list.
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Many agriculture groups are making TPP their main focus right now urging Congress to get it ratified. Along with NCBA, other groups joining this effort include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Corn Growers Association. And of course, President Barack Obama is forging ahead in an attempt to get Congress to vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership now that the elections are over.
But according to an article from Fortune magazine, Vice President Joe Biden recently said the chances for Congress to approve the TPP trade deal were slim. Biden said he sees a “less than even chance” that the U.S. Congress approves the 12-country trade pact before the next administration takes office in January.
Biden made the remarks while speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He said the brief lame-duck session is “our only real shot” for approving TPP.
Leadership of the House and Senate say there will not be a vote on TPP this year, and that there may not be enough votes in the House to approve the trade deal. Other countries are holding out on approval, pending action by the United States.