Friday, January 30, 2015
What is Fast Track Authority?
Fast Track authority for TPP means Congress will have to vote on the 2,000+ page trade deal as written with almost no debate and no ability to amend in an expedited process that could be as short as 60 days. Fast Track provides special rules and supersedes the normal congressional process by speeding everything up, not allowing any amendments and requiring only majority vote in the Senate instead of the usual super majority (60). Members of Congress will be voting to give the TPP this expedited approval process without having actually read the TPP agreement! They will, in effect, be voting for the trade agreement before reading it.
Who Wants Fast Track?
Big corporations desperately want the TPP deal and the fastest way to get it is through Fast Track Authority. Corporations want TPP because it protects future profits by allowing them to challenge laws that could have an impact on their profits, like increases in the minimum wage or campaigns on the health risks of smoking. It would facilitate the export of jobs to low wage countries.Many Members of Congress don't support Fast Track and are standing with us to fight back. Democrats and Republicans have announced their opposition to the push for Fast Track authority and more are signing on every day.
Can Fast Track Be Stopped?
YES! We have stopped it before. In 1998, Fast Track was voted down in a bipartisan vote (171 Democrats and 71 Republicans). We can win this.A coalition of 100 groups is working together - workers, people of faith, environmental activists, civil rights and community leaders, women, student groups and more - to stop Fast Track and TPP.
Message from President Tony Spina
Remember NAFTA? We cannot allow a blockbuster free trade agreement to sail through Congress unchecked. Fast Track for the TPP would be bad for workers, the environment, our health, safety and democracy. Take Action!
Another back-room secret corporate deal.
The TPP has been shrouded in secrecy and backers now want to rush it through Congress.
All journalists and nearly all businesses and public interest groups, and the majority of Congress have been denied effective access to the negotiating texts. However, 600 corporate advisors - including Verizon and Wal-Mart - have been given access. The actual text will not be released until four years after the talks have been concluded or a deal has been reached... Click here to learn more
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