When will the House vote on its own currency bill?

Last fall, the U.S. Senate passed S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act of 2011, a bill to address China’s ongoing currency manipulation, by a vote of 63-35.

The Senate's vote was a win for American jobs. A strong bipartisan majority said to China: Stop the cheating on currency or face consequences.

One of the Senators who pushed hard for S.1619 was Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  In Marion, Ohio yesterday, Brown continued to press for House passage of a currency bill, according to the Marion Star:

Brown cited a report by the Economic Policy Institute and Alliance for American Manufacturing, which states the growing trade deficit with China caused in large part by China's illegal currency manipulation has cost the United States more than 2.8 million jobs since 2001, including more than 1.9 million manufacturing jobs.

In nearby Warren, Ohio, the Tribune Chronicle also wondered when the House will pass currency legislation.  Citing the work of both Sen. Brown and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), they observed:

Ultimately, the impact China's trade practices have on Ohio jobs is an elusive statistic to ascertain. But it's serious business for Ohio, especially the industrial sector in the Warren-Youngstown area. Which is why Ryan's dogged determination and the bipartisan support he receives from U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, are so important. Brown and Portman voted for legislation designed to prevent China's currency manipulation.

Their vows to keep plugging away are important.

The Tribune Chronicle also cited a recent op-ed on China's cheating by Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Executive Director Scott Paul:

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which says Ohio is about to lose 190,000 more jobs because of ''China's cheating.'' Its executive director, Scott Paul, wrote in the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, ''We've seen imports of Chinese auto parts surge by 25 percent in each of the past two years. We've seen our trade deficit in auto parts with China grow nearly 900 percent in just 10 years. Yet no other major auto-producing nation - Germany, Japan, South Korea - has such a trade imbalance; in fact, they export more to China than they import.''

Read more about China's unfair trading practices.