WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Mike Michaud praised the passage today of a bipartisan Senate bill to address the negative impacts of currency manipulation. The Senate bill incorporates the text of a bill that Michaud and his colleagues introduced earlier this year and that passed the House in 2010 by a vote of 378-49.

“This day has been a long time coming,” said Michaud, who has helped lead the push in the House for action on currency manipulation. “The Senate never took up the House bill last year, but I’m hopeful that we can convince House leaders to take up the Senate bill this year. I’ve been working with House supporters to build momentum for the bill, and we now have more than enough bipartisan cosponsors to pass it. This is a jobs bill our country needs right now, and it wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime.”

Currency manipulation is a major driver of the U.S. trade deficit with China. A report by the Alliance for American Manufacturing found that this trade deficit has cost the U.S. 2.8 million jobs, including 9,545 jobs in Maine, since China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) ten years ago.