[CTC] Political Corruption and the "Free Trade" Racket

[Dolan Mike]

Business groups back push for fast-track legislation by June
By Vicki Needham	- 04/24/13 04:18 PM ET

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1005-trade/295949-business-groups-back-push-for-fast-track-legislation-by-june#ixzz2RQ90aeLD
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A leading business group expressed support on Wednesday for a plan by  
a top Senate Democrat to roll out bipartisan fast-track legislation  
early this summer.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is among a broad array of business groups  
that back the efforts of Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)  
to move forward with legislation that would give President Obama the  
authority to negotiate trade agreements amid an expanding global agenda.

"I would like to see a bipartisan TPA [trade promotion authority] bill  
introduced by June,'' Baucus said at a hearing Wednesday covering the  
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Christopher Wenk, head of international policy at the U.S. Chamber,  
said the group is "very pleased" and that it is "extremely  
encouraging" that Baucus set a timetable.

"There is a long process ahead but we have to get the ball rolling,"  
he told The Hill. "As far as we're concerned, the discussions couldn't  
start soon enough."

Business groups have made TPA a top priority and have been on the  
forefront of the push to get it done to cover several pending trade  
deals, including TPP.

Efforts to move forward have picked up pace since Obama announced  
plans in February to embark on a trade deal between the United States  
and the European Union (EU), with those talks set to begin in June or  
July.

The issue has required a significant educational campaign on Capitol  
Hill by business groups — the last time lawmakers negotiated TPA was  
2002 when at least half of the current Congress wasn't even in office.
Wenk said the Chamber is almost done talking to the freshman class.

Baucus, who announced his intention on Tuesday to retire in 2014  
instead of run for another term, also said he wants to renew the Trade  
Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program this year, another initiative  
supported by the Chamber.

Fast-track trade legislation allows the White House to send trade  
agreements to Congress for up-or-down votes without any amendments.

Supporters argue that the legislation, which expired in 2007, is  
needed to ensure the nation's growing number of potential trading  
partners that Congress will take a vote on any agreement reached.

The White House still has not formally requested TPA from Congress but  
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in March that  
the Obama administration is prepared to work with lawmakers on the  
legislation.

The panel's ranking member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) urged the  
administration on Wednesday to follow through.

He said a "formal request from the administration for TPA would send a  
strong signal to our negotiating partners and the proponents of the  
Trans-Pacific Partnership that the president is serious about making  
sure the rhetoric surrounding the agreement meets the reality of the  
negotiating table."

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has said it is committed to  
completing the TPP, which is expected this year, and launching  
negotiations with the European Union, which could take upward of two  
years.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) expressed concern on Wednesday that a final  
TPP deal could be held up by the lack of have fast-track legislation  
in place.

But not all the reaction was positive to Baucus's announcement.

"Fast track is inappropriate for the realities of 21st century trade  
agreements, which go beyond the scope of traditional trade matters and  
affects wide swaths of domestic policy unrelated to trade," said Lori  
Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.

"We should be focusing on a new process for negotiation, an approval  
of trade agreements that reduces political tension about trade policy  
and secures prosperity for the greatest number of Americans, while  
preserving the vital tenets of American democracy in the era of  
globalization.”


Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1005-trade/295949-business-groups-back-push-for-fast-track-legislation-by-june#ixzz2RQ8xXITv
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