Last night, the U.S. Senate voted 79-19 in favor of moving forward on S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act of 2011.  The bill would provide recourse for U.S. manufacturers adversely affected by China’s ongoing currency manipulation.

Reaction to the bold Senate move has varied.  But as Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Executive Director explained in a 'Morning Money' piece with The Politico's Ben White, the Senate vote sends:

"a pretty strong signal that this thing will cruise through Senate. Next up: Look for some nervous House Republicans from industrial states (think swing districts in IL, upstate NY, and places in between) to start pressuring their leadership on this. [Mitt] Romney talking it up on campaign trail gives the leadership plenty of cover, especially if Treasury punts again on October report on currency, as I expect they will.”

Writing for BusinessWeek, Bloomberg News reporter William McQuillen also quoted Paul:

“The strong, bipartisan vote should send a signal to China, as well as to the White House and House Republicans, that voters are demanding action to defend American jobs and a level playing field for U.S. businesses,” Scott Paul, the executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said in a statement.

Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) quoted AAM.  During a Senate floor speech this morning, Reid cited a recent AAM statement (at 6:07 into this C-SPAN clip), explaining that the Senate bill is a "deficit-reducing, job-creating, no-cost stimulus that's desperately needed."

Congrats to the Senate for moving forward on such an important measure to help America's manufacturers and their workers.