Senate, Big Business & Media Push Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement

Early Americans Enter Into Trade With European Settles.
How's That Work Out for the Native Americans?

Today in Washington, D.C. - May 8, 2015:
The House is not in session.

The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 1191, the vehicle for the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015. At 2 PM, the Senate will vote on cloture on the Corker substitute amendment (the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015) to H.R. 1191. The Senate will then vote on final passage of H.R. 1191.

On the Senate floor this morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continued making the case for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement and the Trade Promotion Authority legislation as being vital to conclude the agreement.

He said, “We are a Pacific nation. We have important allies in the region, nations like Japan, Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand that are today just as much a part of a modern, democratic, and market-oriented West as we are.

“The 21st Century also promises to be an Asian-Pacific century. If we care about preserving and extending American leadership globally, then we cannot cede the most dynamic region in the world to China. One way to preserve our leadership would be to invest in the weapons systems and platforms that would fulfill the Obama administration's would be ‘pivot' to Asia.

“Another important way would be to demonstrate our economic leadership. That’s one more reason why passing the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act is so important.

“The United States is currently negotiating an agreement with a whole host of Pacific nations — not just Japan and Australia, but also countries like Canada and Chile — that would cement and enhance our role in the world’s fastest-growing region. The . . . Trans-Pacific Partnership would lower unfair trade barriers to American-made goods and American produce sold in the Pacific. That would represent a huge win for American workers and American farmers, to say nothing of the far-reaching geopolitical implications for our country.

“But our trade negotiators cannot bring this Pacific agreement back to Congress for careful review and deliberation unless Congress assures our trading partners that the agreement they is going to get a fair up or down vote. That’s just what the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act would do. This bipartisan bill would also force America’s trade negotiators to meet congressional objectives and consult with Congress regularly throughout the process, and it would ensure that an agreement like the Trans-Pacific Partnership could not be enacted without explicit congressional approval.”

There’s a critical security dimension to these trade negotiations. McConnell explained, “China wants to diminish American influence in the Pacific. And China wants to substitute American-style rules of global economic fair play for Chinese-style rules of monopolistic cartels and mercantilism. That’s not an outcome any American should be willing to accept. . . . The other countries in the region have made clear that they will have regional trade agreements with or without us. And if we walk away, China will step in. There’s no question of that.”

In his speech to Congress last month, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, “[P]rosperity is nothing less than the seedbed for peace. Involving countries in Asia Pacific whose backgrounds vary, the U.S. and Japan must take the lead. We must take the lead to build a market that is fair, dynamic, sustainable, and is also free from the arbitrary intentions of any nation. …we can spread our shared values around the world and have them take root: the rule of law, democracy, and freedom. That is exactly what the TPP is all about.” He emphasized, “[T]he TPP goes far beyond just economic benefits. It is also about our security. Long term, its strategic value is awesome. We should never forget that.”

For more media pro-PTA news, the ARRA News Service published yesterday the Senate Republicans Communication Center summary of press reports and leaders supporting Trade Promotion Authority.

Also noted yesterday, "Not everyone is buying into to the need for Trade Promotion Authority, Money Mogul Donald Trump has joined with Americans for Limited Government in an effort to oppose the Trade Promotion Authority & Trans-Pacific Partnership deal."

In addition, ARRA News noted, "Americans for Limited Government announced a series of brand new radio advertisements featuring Donald J. Trump that will air nationally with an initial emphasis on New Hampshire and South Carolina. The ad, in which Mr. Trump calls on Republican leaders to stop passage of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), will be broadcast statewide in New Hampshire and South Carolina followed next week by a national rollout. The ad will educate Americans on the detrimental ramifications of these proposed agreements and the combined determination of Americans for Limited Government and Trump to defeat any deal that harms the protection and creation of American jobs. . . .

"Carly Fiorina's questioning the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is a big deal. Joining Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, and Donald Trump in opposition to granting trade promotion authority to President Obama to negotiate the deal now nationalizes the debate. . . ."

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