March 28th Deadline in House for Duty Suspension Bills in 113th Congress

The House Committee on Ways and Means has announced that in order for Members who introduced bill(s) in the 112th Congress to have their provisions included in the current 113th Congress Miscellaneous Tariff Bill ("MTB") process, Members must submit 113th Congress Disclosure Forms to refresh their disclosure information. Members will not be required to reintroduce their bills, and no new bills will be accepted at this time. Bills whose sponsors have not returned in the 113th Congress must be adopted by another Member who completes a 113th Congress Disclosure Form for that adopted bill(s).

Sponsoring, cosponsoring, as well as adopting Members are required to submit by Thursday, March 28, 2013, at 12 noon, one 113th Congress MTB Disclosure Form for each bill they have sponsored/cosponsored/adopted for the bill to be considered in the 113th Congress MTB process. Please be advised that no bill will be considered in the 113th Congress MTB process unless this deadline is met

The 113th Congress MTB Disclosure Form is available here.

BACKGROUND

Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (Rep., Mich.), Ranking Member Sander Levin (Dem., Mich.), Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (Rep., Texas), and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (Dem., Wash.) announced the commencement of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill ("MTB") process on March 30, 2012, requiring Members to introduce bills by April 30, 2012. Due to the overwhelming Member interest in participating in the process, the Committee subsequently informed Members that they would meet the April 30 deadline if their draft bills were submitted to Legislative Counsel by 3:00 p.m. on April 30 and then introduced and submitted to the Ways and Means Committee online MTB submission process no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 16, 2012.

To ensure the highest degree of transparency, the Committee announced on May 24 that it would accept public comments on the submitted bills through June 22, 2012.

Other important parts of the MTB process have also progressed in 2012. The independent International Trade Commission ("ITC") completed its review of the submitted bills, provided reports to the Committee, and posted the reports on its own website. The reports are now also available on the Committee’s website. The Department of Commerce, which spearheads the review of the submitted bills by the Administration, completed its review of the submitted bills and provided comments to the Committee. The comments are now also available on the Committee’s website.

Click here for the table of submitted bills, public comments, ITC Congressional Bill Reports, and Administration comments received by the Committee.

On January 1, 2013, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (Rep., Mich.), Ranking Member Sander Levin (Dem., Mich.), Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (Rep., Texas), and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (Dem., Wash.) announced the introduction of the “U.S. Job Creation and Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2013” (H.R. 6727). The package included provisions from more than 2,000 bills introduced in the House and Senate during the transparent MTB process. The bill was introduced to set the stage for moving the MTB forward in the 113th Congress.