WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions
(R-AL) issued the following statement today [June 12] regarding the vote to
give President Obama expanded fast-track executive authorities:
“It appears there will be another
attempt by Tuesday to force through new executive powers for President Obama. A
vote for TAA next week is a vote to send fast-track to the President’s desk and
to grant him these broad new executive authorities. If that happens, it will
empower the President to form a Pacific Union encompassing 40 percent of the
world’s economy and 12 nations—each with one equal vote. Once the union is
formed, foreign bureaucrats will be required to meet regularly to write the
Commission’s rules, regulations, and directives—impacting Americans’ jobs,
wages, and sovereignty. The union is chartered with a “Living Agreement,” and
there is no doubt it will seek to expand its membership and reach over time.
Fast-track will not only apply to the
Pacific Union, but can expedite an unlimited number of yet-unseen international
compacts for six years. There are already plans to advance through fast-track
the Trade in Services Agreement, the goal of which includes labor mobility
among more than 50 nations, further eroding the ability of the American people
to control their own affairs.
Americans do not want this, did not ask
for it, and are pleading from their hearts for their lawmakers to stop it.
The same people projecting the benefits
of leaping into a colossal new economic union could not even accurately predict
the impact of a standalone agreement with South Korea. The latter deal, which
promised to boost our exports to them $10 billion, instead only budged them
less than $1 billion, while South Korea’s imports to us increased more than $12
billion, nearly doubling our trading deficit. This new agreement will only
further increase our trading deficit: opening our markets to foreign imports
while allowing our trading partners to continue their non-tariff barriers that
close their markets to ours.
If we want a new trade deal with Japan,
or with Vietnam, then they should be negotiated bilaterally and sent to
Congress under regular order. Under no circumstances should the House
authorize, through fast-track, the formation of a new international commission
that will regulate not only trade, but immigration, labor, environmental, and
all manner of commercial policy.
What American went to the polls in 2014
to vote for fast-track and a new global union? Can anyone honestly say that
Congress is trying to ram this deal through because they think their
constituents want it?
While elites dream of a world without
borders, voters dream of a world where the politicians they elect put this
country’s own citizens first.
The movement among Americans toward a
decent, honest populism—toward a refocusing on the needs of American citizens
and American interests—grows stronger by the day. Every vote to come before
Congress, beginning with the next fast-track push, will face this test: does
your plan strengthen or weaken the social and economic position of the loyal,
everyday working American?”
Michelle Malkin has more
sobering comments here.
Ted Cruz has come out
in support of the bill.
Why would Congress pass (let alone rush to pass ~ without reading) a bill that further compromises the sovereignty of the
United States?
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