Kerry presses for trade as lawmakers work on fast-track legislation

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday continued to urge Congress to back President Barack Obama's trade agenda as lawmakers were working on the so- called fast-track legislation for speeding consideration of any trade agreements.

The fast-track legislation, formally known as trade promotion authority (TPA) and approved by a Senate panel Wednesday, empowers the president to negotiate trade deals and then present them to Congress for up-or-down votes, with no amendments allowed.

Kerry hailed the introduction of the legislation as "very good news," saying it will give Obama the flexibility to "negotiate credibly and effectively on our nation's behalf."

It will also provide a framework "for moving forward on a pair of the most significant trade negotiations in our history," Kerry said of the Obama administration's ongoing trade talks with Asia Pacific and Europe Union at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-D.C. based think tank.

While Obama has made conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations as one of top priorities of his second-term's economic policy, liberal Democrats and activists from labor unions have vowed to block the president's trade agenda, arguing these trade deals have hurt U.S. workers and increased income inequality.

"As a Democrat, as somebody who won the nomination of my party for the presidency, I understand those tensions as well as anybody. But I voted for the trade agreements, including NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), when they came to the United States Senate," Kerry said, urging lawmakers to support trade deals.

"In the modern world, we simply cannot expect our economies to grow and generate new jobs if all we do is buy and sell to ourselves -- ain't gonna work," Kerry said, adding that 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside the United States.

Kerry also stressed the importance for the U.S. to be deeply engaged in helping to write the rules for trade. "Why would you sit on a sideline and let other people do that?" he asked. "We have to be engaged, because if we don't protect our interests, no one else is going to."

Kerry also highlighted the national security benefits of the TPP and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Kerry's remarks came as the House Ways and Means Committee is considering the fast-track legislation Thursday, one day after the Senate Finance Committee approved the measure.

If the legislation is passed by the full House and Senate, it would give U.S. trading partners the confidence they need to put their best offers on the table and help conclude the ongoing ambitious trade negotiations, according to lawmakers and trade analysts.

As a coalition of liberal Democrats and Tea Party Republicans have been making efforts to block Obama's trade agenda, however, it is unclear whether the legislation could eventually get enough votes for passage in both chambers of Congress. Endite