Senate Conducts Hearing on ITC Nominee

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December 02, 2013

On November 20, 2013, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to consider President Obama’s nomination of Rhonda Schnare Schmidtlein as Commissioner at  the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).  During the hearing, Chairman Max Baucus (D-MI) expressed concern regarding the ITC’s review of trade agreements and intellectual property proceedings.  Baucus pointed out that the ITC currently requires 150 days to evaluate a trade agreement, when in the past the Commission only required 90 days.  Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) also emphasized the need for the ITC to strengthen its intellectual property investigations.

President Obama nominated Schmidtlein on July 12, 2013, to replace Commissioner Shara L. Aranoff, whose term expired in 2010.  At the hearing, the committee also considered Obama’s nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Sarah Bloom Raskin.

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