The Senate\u2019s top Democrat on Wednesday [29 Jan 2014] threw up a roadblock to a business-backed trade bill promoted less than 24 hours earlier by President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m against fast track,\u201d Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters<\/a> about so-called trade promotion authority legislation. The proposal would ensure an up-or-down vote, speeding up the passage of trade deals.<\/p>\n Obama asked Congress to pass the bill in his State of the Union address<\/a> Tuesday night. Businesses including manufacturers have pressed hard for the legislation, saying it will help them expand into new markets.<\/p>\n Addressing lawmakers Tuesday night, Obama said: \u201cWe need to work together on tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment, and open new markets to new goods stamped \u2018Made in the USA.\u2019 China and Europe aren\u2019t standing on the sidelines. Neither should we.\u201d<\/p>\n Reid\u2019s comments shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise to the White House, from what he told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone knows how I feel about this,\u201d Reid said. \u201c[Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max] Baucus knows. [Sen. Ron] Wyden knows. The White House knows. Everyone would be well-advised not to push this right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats and labor have been stepping up opposition to lowering trade barriers. Democrat Reps. Rosa DeLauro and George Miller earlier this month wrote<\/a> to Obama saying they\u2019d lined up 151 House Democrats in opposition to fast-track procedures \u201cthat usurp Congress\u2019 authority over trade matters.\u201d And AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the labor organization opposes fast track \u201cin the strongest of terms.\u201d The organization says fast track would kill American jobs instead of creating them.<\/p>\n