Stop TPP

Protect American Sovereignty, Stop the "Pacific Union"

On November 5, 2015, the United States government released the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement (see photo on left of the TPP Agreement stacked on Senator Jeff Sessions' desk) on the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) official website. And our initial warnings of it ultimately leading toward the formation of a new regional economic union akin to the European Union (EU) have been confirmed.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), in an official news release posted on his Senate website, does not mince words as he calls to "shut off fast-track" for the TPP:

The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership runs 5,554 pages. This is, by definition, anti-democratic. No individual American has the resources to ensure his or her economic and political interests are safeguarded within this vast global regulatory structure. The predictable and surely desired result of the TPP is to put greater distance between the governed and those who govern. It puts those who make the rules out of reach of those who live under them, empowering unelected regulators who cannot be recalled or voted out of office. In turn, it diminishes the power of the people's bulwark: their constitutionally-formed Congress.

Sessions was referring to chapter 27 of the TPP, entitled "Administrative and Institutional Provisions," which establishes and outlines the functions of its administrative and executive body — the Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission. "This new structure is known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission — a Pacific Union — which meets, appoints unelected bureaucrats, adopts rules, and changes the agreement after adoption," Sessions states. 

Article 27, section 1, of the TPP plainly states: "The Parties hereby establish a Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission (Commission) which shall meet at the level of Ministers or senior officials, as mutually determined by the Parties. Each Party shall be responsible for the composition of its delegation."

Article 27, section 2, outlines the functions of the TPP Commission:

The Commission shall: 

(a)    consider any matter relating to the implementation or operation of this Agreement;

(b)    review within 3 years of entry into force of this Agreement and at least every 5 years thereafter the economic relationship and partnership among the Parties; 

(c)    consider any proposal to amend or modify this Agreement; 

(d)    supervise the work of all committees and working groups established under this Agreement; 

(e)    establish the Model Rules of Procedure for Arbitral Tribunals referred to in Article 28.11.2 and Article 28.12, and, where appropriate, amend such Model Rules of Procedure for Arbitral Tribunals; 

(f)    consider ways to further enhance trade and investment between the Parties; 

(g)    review the roster of panel chairs established under Article 28.10 every 3 years, and when appropriate, constitute a new roster; and 

(h)    determine whether the Agreement may enter into force for an original signatory notifying pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 30.5.1 (Entry into Force).

Sessions calls the TPP Commission's powers "open-ended," citing its broad authority over the creation of new rules and procedures, global migration, and global environmental standards; Sessions states:

This global governance authority is open-ended: 'The Commission and any subsidiary body established under this Agreement may establish rules of procedures for the conduct of its work.' It covers everything from the movement of foreign nationals: 'No Party shall adopt or maintain ... measures that impose limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular service sector ... in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test'; to climate regulation: 'The Parties acknowledge that transition to a low emissions economy requires collective action.'

Further on in his news release, Sessions rightly likens the TPP Commission to the European Union. "At bottom, this is not a mere trade agreement. It bears the hallmarks of a nascent European Union."

On November 10, 2015, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Sessions reiterated that the goal of the TPP is the creation of an EU-like "Pacific Union." Sessions said, "The TPP is about the goal of creating a new global regulatory structure — what I have called a Pacific Union — transferring power from individual Americans and Congress, eroding Congress, to an unaccountable, unelected, international bureaucratic committee." Towards the end of his remarks Sessions further said of the TPP, "This agreement is not just about promoting trade; it is about creating a framework for a transnational union which supersedes the authority of Congress."

With the full text of the TPP now unveiled we see that both our suspicions and Senator Sessions' warnings are correct. In order to safeguard our nation's economic and political sovereignty from this new Pacific Union it is imperative that you contact your U.S. representative and senators, urging them to oppose and vote Nay on the TPP or any legislation advancing its passage. This has very little to do with trade, but everything to do with the continuity of America's independence.

Please phone your representative (202-225-3121) and senators (202-224-3121) in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which would subordinate U.S. national sovereignty and independence to a supranational EU-style Pacific Union.

Click here to send an editable, pre-written email to your representative and senators urging them to oppose and vote NAY on passage of the final TPP Agreement.

Thanks. Your Friends at The John Birch Society