Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Twp., who chairs a House trade subcommittee, urged the U.S. House to adopt a bill that provides President Barack Obama with authority to conclude a 12-nation free-trade agreement with the United States and 11 other Pacific-rim nations.
Jack Torry in our Washington Bureau reports that Tiberi, a political ally of House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., made the pitch for the measure Saturday when he delivered the House Republican weekly address.
The Senate has already approved the bill, and the House could take up the measure as early as this week.
If the House passes the bill, Congress will still have the opportunity to accept or reject the final trade pact, expected to be finished later this summer. But under the bill, Congress could not change the pact with amendments.
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