"President Obama, and allies in Congress, have won this
fast-track vote. But, in exchange, they may find that they are losing something
far greater: the trust of the American people."
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) issued the
following statement today after the Senate voted to advance six-year fast-track
executive authority:
"Americans increasingly believe that their country
isn't serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan
vote of Congress that will transfer congressional power to the Executive Branch
and, in turn, to a transnational Pacific Union and the global interests who
will help write its rules.
The same routine plays out over and again. We are told a
massive bill must be passed, all the business lobbyists and leaders tell us how
grand it will be, but that it must be rushed through before the voters spoil
the plan. As with Obamacare and the Gang of Eight, the politicians meet with
the consultants to craft the talking points-not based on what the bill actually
does, but what they hope people will believe it does. And when ordinary
Americans who never asked for the plan, who don't want the plan, who want no
part of the plan, resist, they are scorned, mocked, and heaped with
condescension.
Washington broke arms and heads to get that 60th vote-not
one to spare-to impose on the American people a plan which imperils their jobs,
wages, and control over their own affairs. It is remarkable that so much energy
has been expended on advancing the things Americans oppose, and preventing the
things Americans want.
For instance: thousands of loyal Americans have been laid
off and forced to train the foreign workers brought in to fill their jobs-at
Disney, at Southern California Edison, across the country. Does Washington rush
to their defense? No, the politicians and the lobbyists rush to move
legislation that would double or triple the very program responsible for
replacing them. This 'econometarian' ideology holds that if a company can
increase its bottom line -whether by insourcing foreign workers or outsourcing
production-then it's always a win, never a downside.
President Obama, and allies in Congress, have won this
fast-track vote. But, in exchange, they may find that they are losing something
far greater: the trust of the American people. Americans have a fundamental,
decent, and just demand: that the people they elect defend their interests. And
every issue to come before us in the coming months will have to pass this test:
does this strengthen, or weaken, the position of the everyday, loyal American
citizen?"
[NOTE: According to a brand new Wall Street Journal/NBC News
poll<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/06/22/support-for-free-trade-drops-amid-raging-congressional-debate-wsjnbc-poll/>,
The American public increasingly believes that trade deals
have hurt rather than helped the United States.
Sessions' letter to his colleagues ahead of today's vote:
Sessions, one of the Senate's staunchest opponents of the Trade Promotion Authority legislation, or TPA, said new trade deals threaten to cause further economic damage and job loss in the United States and could lead to a back-door deal with China later on.
Approval of TPA will give President Obama expedited power to secure new trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 Pacific Rim nations, or TPP. But Sessions said in his letter that Obama has not spelled out how the U.S. economy might change if the TPP were approved, and that Obama is looking to inject environmental issues into the agreement.
"All of this information gives us more than enough basis to slow down and not fast track anything until all of our questions are answered," Sessions said in a letter sent to Republican Senate lawmakers on Monday. "We should be inherently skeptical of grand designs, too complex to oversee, whose creators can provide no specifics yet pledge utopian results."
Sessions' call to oppose the bill came just two hours after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled he was optimistic lawmakers will approve a two-part trade package this week.
The plan calls for lawmakers to vote on TPA on Tuesday, and then vote on Wednesday to extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act, a retraining and aid program for workers displaced by trade deals.
Democrats in the Senate said they will not vote for TPA unless the worker retraining bill is signed at the same time by President Obama.
"It was always the goal to ensure these bills passed Congress in the end," McConnell said. "It remains the bipartisan goal today. We're now on the verge of achieving it. With just a little more trust, a little more cooperation, and simply voting consistently, we'll get there."
The Senate approved the legislation last month but is taking it up as two different bills after House Democrats sunk the package by voting down the worker aid legislation.
Many Democrats and Republicans remain opposed to the deal, so votes in the Senate this week will likely be close.
Sessions argued in the memo that there remain too many outstanding questions about the upcoming trade deals that will be expedited under the TPA bill. He pointed out that Obama has acknowledged China may seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the future, after Congress votes up or down on the pact.
Lawmakers have been angered by the secrecy surrounding the deals and how they might change after becoming law and without further oversight by Congress.
China is accused of currency manipulation, which has hurt the U.S. economy and has made it harder to export American products.
"Conservatives demand caution," Sessions said in the memo. "Can any of us honestly say to our constituents we understand the full implication of the … agreements that will be pre-approved for adoption?
<http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sessions-tells-gop-to-shoot-down-obamas-trade-bill/article/2566802>.
To view this release online, please click
here<http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=BEF90E4A-433F-4C97-A8B3-0E875531D36A>.]
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