By: Larry Greenley 06/11/2015
URGENT ACTION REQUEST! House Votes on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) June 12!
The House of Representatives will vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), aka fast-track authority, tomorrow (Friday) June 12. The Senate approved TPA on May 22, so if the House approves it tomorrow, that would be the final vote. Obama would happily sign it.
In an open letter to President Obama dated June 5, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) provided powerful reasons for opposing congressional approval of TPA:
[In a letter dated May 6] I asked that you make public the section of the TPP that creates a new transnational governance structure known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission. The details of this new governance commission are extremely broad and have the hallmarks of a nascent European Union, with many similarities.
Reviewing the secret text, plus the secret guidance document that accompanies it, reveals that this new transnational commission—chartered with a “Living Agreement” clause—would have the authority to amend the agreement after its adoption, to add new members, and to issue regulations impacting labor, immigration, environmental, and commercial policy. Under this new commission, the Sultan of Brunei would have an equal vote to that of the United States.