This amendment was an attempt to maintain the labor and environmental protections in U.S. law as the larger trade bill it was amending threatened them. A provision in that larger trade bill banned retaliatory action against governments that did not comply with labor and environmental standards negotiated into the trade agreement. The amendment simply struck the provision from the law. Progressives supported this action, for without the amendment, it would be more difficult to prevent jobs from going to countries with lower environmental and labor protections than in the U.S. Baucus (D-MT) brought a motion to table (kill) this amendment. This meant a vote for the motion was a vote against the amendment, and for the notion that enforcement of environmental and labor laws should be difficult. The motion passed, 54-44.