AFI on Capitol Hill to Fight for Byrd Amendment Repeal
Provided by Jeff Levin - Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Shepard - Harris Ellsworth & Levin International Trade Group
Howard Schreiber and Bob Bauer joined counsel yesterday for a round of visits on Capitol Hill to push for repeal of the Byrd Amendment. Members will recall that a provision to repeal the Byrd Amendment was included in the version of the Deficit Reduction Act passed by the House of Representatives last month. The Senate version of the bill does not contain a similar provision. Therefore, the object is to have the Byrd repeal provision included in the House-Senate conference report, and then to have the conference report approved by both sides of Congress. This is indeed a difficult challenge, but the very real possibility exists for a successful outcome. Howard and Bob’s visits yesterday were a vital element in our fight.
On an action-packed day, we visited with the offices of Senators Santorum (PA), Specter (PA), Chambliss (GA) and Lautenberg (NJ). On the House side, we also visited with the office of Congressman Eric Cantor, who is the majority deputy whip (a high-ranking leadership position), and with a professional staff member of the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee who has proven to be a good friend of the Association. On some of these visits, we were joined, at our invitation, by representatives of other like-minded trade associations in DC.
The current read on Capitol Hill is that the conference report on the Deficit Reduction Act will be finalized early next week, with votes in the Senate and House later this week. Therefore, the critical time for this fight is RIGHT NOW, and all Members are urged to send out the political action letter that we previously forwarded. Another political action letter – timed to next week’s action – will be sent out to Members on Monday and, again, all Members are urged to send these letters out. The only way we may win this fight is for as many Senators and Congressmen as possible to hear from opponents of the Byrd Amendment.
My personal thanks go out to Howard and Bob for their hard work.
We will, of course, continue to keep Members advised as to developments.
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