Now that the 106th Congress has adjourned for the year, completing its first session, this is
a good time to summarize where selected legislative issues of importance to wire producers stand
in the process.
Africa Trade Bill:
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (HR 434) passed the House during the summer.
After much debate, a more encompassing bill passed the Senate (76-19). Both trade bills would
reduce and, in most cases, eliminate tariffs and quotas on products from sub-Saharan Africa, as well as make US business investment in the region easier. The Senate version goes much further and extends benefits similar to those under the NAFTA to Caribbean and Central American countries, including apparel and textiles - a very contentious issue.
Other additions in the Senate bill: renewal of both the Generalized System of
Preferences (which offers extensive duty-free access for products from more than 100 developing nations) and Trade Adjustment Assistance program (which helps US workers and firms hurt by imports); and an amendment requiring the president to consider whether a country recognizes basic labor standards before granting them unilateral trade preferences.
The bill is not expected to go to conference before next year. Senate Majority Leader Lott
(R-MS) has already announced that he, William Roth (R-DE), Jesse Helms (R-SC), Daniel
Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), Max Baucus (D-MT), and Joseph Biden (D-DE) would be conferees for
the Senate side.
Electricity Deregulation:
House Commerce Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton's (R-TX)
electricity deregulation bill (HR 2944) was approved by the subcommittee (17-11, along partisan lines). The bill will go the full committee next year. At this level, opponents have promised a fierce battle. Even the Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA) has made it clear he believes the bill should have stronger consumer protections.
On the Senate side, a Republican Senator from the Senate Energy Committee, Peter
Fitzgerald (IL), said there is no "groundswell on the panel for electricity deregulation." He added that senators from the western US are not pushing the bill because they fear it will lead to higher electricity prices.
Maintain United States Trade Law Resolution (MUST):
A resolution (HRes 298) was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps.
Peter Visclosky (D-IN) and Bob Ney (R-OH) that called upon the president to resist participating in any international negotiation in which anti-dumping rules are a part of the agenda. Further it will insist that he refrain from submitting for congressional approval any agreements that require changes to current anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws and enforcement policies of the US.
The sponsors of the resolution are concerned about the upcoming WTO ministerial and
the chance that anti-dumping laws will be on the agenda, as several countries have requested. Many of the bill's co-sponsors have stated these laws have represented "one of the only means of relief for American steelworkers and the American Steel Industry."
Mr. Regula (R-OH), the Chairman of the House Steel Caucus and member of the WTO
Ministerial Congressional Advisory Group, is particularly concerned about an addendum to the draft Ministerial Declaration which would seriously weaken U.S anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws. "Although this addendum is not official," Mr. Regula stated, "It indicates there will be substantial pressure on the US delegation to include changes to these laws in the new round of negotiations."
Among some of the changes proposed in the addendum:
- Once an anti-dumping investigation under US law is concluded, no new petition involving
the same product could be initiated for at least a year.
- If a duty lower than the calculated margin of dumping were thought to be sufficient to
reduce the injury, then that lower duty would be mandatory.
- Countervailing duties would be imposed not in the full amount, but only in the amount
by which the subsidy exceeds the applicable de minimis level.
However, despite bipartisan support and over 200 co-sponsors, the resolution failed to
obtain the needed leadership support for a House vote. An appeal to the House Parliamentarian also failed, essentially killing any chance of its passage this year.
Patients' Bill of Rights:
One of the major unanswered questions pending in Congress is whether the House and
Senate will be able to agree on a bill to regulate HMOs (Patients' Bill of Rights). The issue has
become heavily politicized as the major political parties look towards the general election in 2000. The Democrats know the bill has considerable appeal and hope to exploit the issue. The
Republican leadership, worried about the effect of federal legislation on the healthcare industry, has struggled to find ways to soften the impact of the proposed new rules.
Basically, it has come down to a battle over whether patients should have the right to sue
their insurance companies for decisions that impact the quality of delivered health care. The House has said yes; the Senate no.
Dealing a serious blow to its supporters, the House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) recently
used a parliamentary maneuver to all but guarantee that it won't become law this year. He has named 13 Republicans to the negotiating committee on the managed-care health bill - a dozen of whom voted against the bill, pointedly bypassing the legislation's sponsors. Hastert favors more modest reforms that give patients the ability to appeal adverse HMO decisions, concurs with the insurance industry's contention that a right to sue would drive up costs and lead to fewer people being covered.
White House Chief of Staff John Podesta has since concurred that "the bill is a dead issue for this year." Conversely, Senate Majority Leader Lott indicated the legislation is "alive" and conferee work is continuing.
Ergonomics:
Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) announced that a new study done by Food Distributors International raises serious questions about the economic impact of a new ergonomics
regulation about to be proposed by OSHA. The study further demonstrates the need for OSHA to wait for the results of a study being done by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) which is
examining whether sufficient evidence exists to support an ergonomics rule. The Senator added at a Small Business Committee meeting, "OSHA has grossly underestimated the cost to small businesses of this rule. Until the agency has an accurate analysis with reasonable cost estimates, they should not move forward on this rule." OSHA has estimated the rule, to be announced later this month, will cost employers across the nation about $4.5 billion.
Bond introduced S 1070--the Sensible Ergonomics Need Scientific Evidence Act (SENSE)-- earlier this year that would force OSHA to wait for the NAS study before publishing a proposed rule, final rule or guidelines on ergonomics. In August, the House passed a similar bill, HR 987--the Workplace Preservation Act--which prohibits OSHA from implementing the ergonomics
regulation until the NAS completes its ongoing study slated to be released mid-2001.
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