WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today urged the Senate to pass his bipartisan legislation to repeal Donald Trump’s global tariffs and reassert Congress’s trade authority. The resolution, led by Senators Welch (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), would terminate the emergency authority President Trump has used to apply tariffs on products Americans imports. In the wake of President Trump’s tariff declaration, markets have cratered, manufacturers have laid off thousands of workers, and foreign countries have retaliated by imposing their own tariffs on U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods.
Senator Welch spoke ahead of the Senate’s vote, which is expected this evening. Watch his remarks below:
“We have a collective responsibility to do everything we can to maintain the constitutional structure of three independent branches of government, each a counterweight to the other. And that’s not just an abstract concept. That’s the wisdom that has served us well, for well over 200 years. That those checks and balances give all our citizens an opportunity to have a seat at the table when major decisions about their lives and their futures are being made.
“That is why this decision that we’re about to make is not just about the tariffs. It’s not just about, in my view, how recklessly they’re being applied and imposed. It’s not just how they infect our economy with corruption, where it’s who you know rather than how hard you work, that’s going to get you ahead. It’s about the basic structure of our constitutional order. And every single one of us has the responsibility to protect that, because that’s not about us; it’s not about who we represent; it’s about how our country can operate with a democratic system where every single person, through their representatives, has a seat at the table.
“I urge all of us to take a look at what our constitutional responsibility is and whether we agree or not on so many different issues of vital concern to the future of this country, we each have a responsibility to act in a way that protects the constitutional system. And that means that we exercise the authority over tariffs—we don’t give that away to an executive branch decision.”
If enacted, the resolution would terminate the emergency that Trump declared, reverse Trump’s new taxes of 10% on all imported goods and end his threat of additional tariffs up to 49% on products Americans buy from other countries. In the wake of Trump’s tariff standoff, manufacturers have laid off thousands of workers, and foreign countries have retaliated by slapping their own tariffs on U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods.
Senator Welch was joined on the floor by Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Read and download the full text of the bipartisan resolution.
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