Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet and senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, voiced his strong opposition to Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which would ‘fast-track’ the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.  His statement, as prepared for delivery on the House Floor, follows:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Trade Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314), which would ‘fast-track’ trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), by allowing them to pass Congress by a straight, up or down vote without any possibility of amendment.

“Ever since NAFTA in 1993, these so-called free trade agreements have all been sold to the American people on the same propaganda; that they will boost exports and increase jobs.  Yet the results have always been the same.  Although we might increase exports somewhat, one of our biggest exports has been American jobs.  Any claims to the contrary are not worth the paper they are written on.

“For starters, these are not really free trade agreements.  A true free trade agreement would consist of no more than a few pages simply listing the dates on which tariffs for various commodities would be eliminated.  In fact, these agreements consist of thousands of pages of negotiated provisions, which history demonstrates have benefited multi-national companies while destroying millions of American jobs and depressing American wage levels.  Without adequate labor, environmental and human rights standards, our trading partners can and do pay their workers 30 cents per hour, make their goods cheaper by dumping waste products in the river, and murder workers who try to join a union.  No wonder factories in the United States close and move abroad.  No wonder our balance of trade becomes calamitous. 

“We are always told that the next trade agreement will have better protections, but that has never been the case.  None of the so-called protections have been enforced or enforceable.  So it is particularly troubling that the text of the TPP is still classified.  Members of Congress can look at it but cannot take notes, cannot make copies, and cannot talk about what they have seen.  What are they afraid people might discover?  If it is true that the TPP includes enforceable provisions related to labor and environmental standards, why not make it public?  Why not share what is supposedly so critical in this trade agreement with the American people?

“The fact that the TPP is secret is obnoxious.  Most of what we know about it has come from leaks that indicate that the TPP, just like its predecessors, will simply help multi-national corporations and further impoverish the lower and middle classes here at home.

“For example, the TPP includes a chapter on Investment-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) that would allow multi-national corporations to sue state and local governments, or the Federal government, in private tribunals by alleging that American laws or regulations limit their profits.  Companies like Phillip Morris could sue for compensation for loss of sales because of cigarette labeling laws.  Companies could sue to void enforcement of minimum wage, or factory, safety or consumer laws.  

“According to the USTR, the TPP will also include new rules to “ensure fair competition between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies.”  This could lead to privatization of a variety of public services.  And just this week, the House voted to repeal our Country of Origin Labeling law after the WTO ruled that it discriminated against Canada and Mexico, raising even more questions about the consequences of these trade agreements on the sovereignty of our nation. 

“These questions are only the tip of the iceberg, and highlight the need for an open and honest review of the TPP rather than blindly facilitating its passage.  The Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate foreign commerce.  We must not cede that authority to the Executive Branch and abdicate our responsibility to protect the public interest.  If the TPP is as beneficial as its supporters have claimed, it should be able to withstand scrutiny in the light of day and a full debate in Congress.

“But we don’t have to rely on leaks about the TPP to justify voting against the bills on the floor today.  A host of provisions that have been added to the Trade Enforcement bill (H.R. 644) in order to gain support for this bill are egregious, such as prohibiting negotiations to address climate change, weakening language to combat human trafficking, and removing language to address currency manipulation.

“This bill is dangerous and destructive.  I urge my colleagues to vote No, and yield back the balance of my time.

“Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.”