Author of Resolution to Quit WTO Angry That House Blocked Vote on Measure
As part of a resolution on banking regulations, the House of Representatives voted June 25 to block a resolution that Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., proposed, that the U.S. withdraw from the World Trade Organization (see 2005130062).
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The treaty that governs the WTO gives Congress the opportunity to withdraw if a majority of both chambers vote to do so, but they can only vote once every five years. So the resolution effectively guarantees that the U.S. will stay in, because the resolution says a vote cannot be taken in the House this year.
DeFazio, in a hallway interview at the Capitol, said, “There was concern that I would use debate time during these two weeks.” He said he told leadership he would be flexible on when the vote came up, and offered for it to go the last day before the August break, or even later.
“They went overboard and changed the rules of the House. I'll be discussing it with leadership later.”
Although the House voted 230-180 for the combined resolution, DeFazio said he still thought there was a chance the resolution could be reversed, because if not, he said the House would look worse than the Senate. “The Senate is going to vote on it. We should have the guts to vote on it. The WTO is an incredible destructive force. If we haven't learned after this pandemic, that we can't be dependent for critical supplies on China and other places, then there's no hope.”