<div dir="ltr">Please share from our action at the White House today. Big thanks to AMSA, Alliance for Democracy, Beyond Extreme Energy, Friends of the Earth, Popular Resistance supporters, Vegans against the TPP, Veterans for Peace, Women;s Institute or Freedom of the Press and more who showed up in the rain!<div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.flushthetpp.org/protest-at-white-house-kicks-off-nationwide-days-of-action/">http://www.flushthetpp.org/protest-at-white-house-kicks-off-nationwide-days-of-action/</a></div><div><a href="http://www.artkillingapathy.com/greed-kills-no-tpp/">http://www.artkillingapathy.com/greed-kills-no-tpp/</a></div><div><br></div><div>Onward to stopping the TPP!</div><div><br></div><div>Margaret<br><div><br></div><div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 4:16 PM, Arthur Stamoulis <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:arthur@citizenstrade.org" target="_blank">arthur@citizenstrade.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word">Statements from CWA, Friends of the Earth, Machinists, USW and Senator Warren…<div><br><div>
<span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word"><div>Arthur Stamoulis</div><div>Citizens Trade Campaign</div><div><a href="tel:%28202%29%20494-8826" value="+12024948826" target="_blank">(202) 494-8826</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></span><a href="http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/if_tpp_is_progressive_why_must_white_house_rely_on_republican_friendly_orga#.VrJCD1Ierfc" style="font-size:12.8px" target="_blank">http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/if_tpp_is_progressive_why_must_white_house_rely_on_republican_friendly_orga#.VrJCD1Ierfc</a><br></span><br>
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<div><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2016<br>
CONTACT: Candice Johnson at <a href="mailto:cjohnson@cwa-union.org" target="_blank">cjohnson@cwa-union.org</a> and <a href="tel:202-434-1168" value="+12024341168" target="_blank">202-434-1168</a>
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:16.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria,Bold'">If TPP is So Progressive, Why Must White House Rely </span><span style="font-size:16.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria,Bold'">on “Republican
Friendly Organizations” to Sell It to Congress?
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">Washington, DC </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">– </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">Democratic backers of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal like to
claim </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">that the TPP is “the most progressive trade agreement in history.”
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">If that’s the case, then why </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">must the White House rely on </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">“Republican friendly organizations” </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">and
some of the biggest opponents of progressive policies to get the deal through Congress?
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">As Politico</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">’s Adam </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">Behsudi highlights:
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">“</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">The White House </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">will be relying on ‘</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">Re</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">publican friendly organizations’ </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">to make the case
for passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Congress, the administration's chief
spokesman said today.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">‘</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">The good news is that it's not just going to be a Democratic president trying to appeal to
Republicans in Cong</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">ress to support this agreement,’ </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">White House spokesman Josh Earnest
said at a press briefing.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">He named the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau Federation and National
Association of Manufacturers among the groups that will be looked </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">upon ‘</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">to make a strong
</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">case to the Republicans.’
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">Many of those groups have expressed support for the deal but conditioned their
endorsement on how the administration addresses certain areas of the agreement they
view as problematic, such as its provisions on pharmaceuticals, financial services and
tobacco.</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">”
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">According to Shane Larson, Legislative Director at the Communications Workers of America
</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">(CWA), “</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">I</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">t’s ironic that even the Administration </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">now admits that passage of TPP relies on the
support and work of some of the most vehement opponents of real progressive policies. The lack
of support from Democrats and the progressive movement clearly demonstrates the emptiness of
claims that the TPP is a </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">‘</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">progressive</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">’ </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">trade agreement. With support for the TPP deteriorating
since its public release from even proponents of the Fast-Track TPA, it seems that that USTR
</span></p>
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<div><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">Michael Froman will look for support wherever he can find it. In this case, that means support
from the organizations most committed to attacking progressive policies and bankrolling right-
wing politicians. The fact is that the TPP would set back rather than advance core progressive
issues and values</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">.”
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'">###</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'"><br></span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2016-02-obama-administration-to-sign-pacific-trade-deal-undermining-climate#sthash.8Bxkiplw.dpuf" style="color:purple" target="_blank">http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2016-02-obama-administration-to-sign-pacific-trade-deal-undermining-climate#sthash.8Bxkiplw.dpuf</a><u></u><u></u></div><h1 style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:24pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,176,80)">Friends of the Earth news release<u></u><u></u></span></h1><h1 style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:24pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">Obama administration to sign Pacific trade deal, undermining climate policy<u></u><u></u></h1><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">Posted Feb. 3, 2016 / Posted by: Kate Colwell <u></u><u></u></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif"><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C. –</strong> Today, Michael Froman, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the trade ministers of 11 other Asia-Pacific countries will sign the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement in Auckland, New Zealand. The TPP will deregulate protections for peoples and environments and <a href="http://www.foe.org/projects/economics-for-the-earth/blog/2012-06-hazmat-trade-deal-negotiators-in-san-diego-to-focus" style="color:purple" target="_blank">force governments to pay corporations</a> and <a href="http://www.foe.org/projects/economics-for-the-earth/blog/2012-02-environmentalists-threatened-murdered-in-el-salvador" style="color:purple" target="_blank">wealthy investors for the cost of complying with environmental</a> and public interest safeguards.<u></u><u></u></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">The TPP is designed to expand so-called “free trade” across the Pacific in dirty energy products such as tar sands oil, coal from the Powder River Basin, and liquefied natural gas shipped out of West Coast ports -- thereby <a href="https://medium.com/economic-policy-campaign/president-obama-dodges-pacific-trade-deal-threat-to-the-environment-7f9b4ff44c91#.mjw952pjt" style="color:purple" target="_blank">accelerating global warming</a>. For example, the TPP actually requires the U.S. Department of Energy to approve all exports to TPP countries of liquefied natural gas, which has a far greater carbon footprint than other natural gas.<u></u><u></u></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">Erich Pica, President of Friends of the Earth, made the following statement:<u></u><u></u></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">The TPP contains all the worst elements of previous so-called “free trade agreements” plus new provisions for dirty energy companies that care little about the existential threat posed by climate change. The TPP would trump the recently-concluded Paris accord on climate change because the TPP, like previous deals, can be effectively enforced by international tribunals with authority to levy retaliatory trade sanctions or unlimited awards of money damages. TransCanada has sued the U.S. under the NAFTA investment chapter for $15 billion for stopping construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama should renegotiate the TPP.<u></u><u></u></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">Link to analysis of environmental and climate threat posed by TPP <a href="https://medium.com/economic-policy-campaign/president-obama-dodges-pacific-trade-deal-threat-to-the-environment-7f9b4ff44c91#.mjw952pjt" style="color:purple" target="_blank">here</a>.<u></u><u></u></p><p align="center" style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;text-align:center"><strong style="text-align:start">Expert contact:</strong><span style="text-align:start"> </span><span style="text-align:start">Bill Waren, <a href="tel:%28202%29%20222-0746" value="+12022220746" target="_blank">(202) 222-0746</a>,</span><span style="text-align:start"> </span><a href="mailto:mknodel@foe.org" style="text-align:start;color:purple" target="_blank">wwaren@foe.org<br></a><strong style="text-align:start">Communications contact:</strong><span style="text-align:start"> </span><span style="text-align:start">Kate Colwell, <a href="tel:%28202%29%20222-0744" value="+12022220744" target="_blank">(202) 222-0744</a>,</span><span style="text-align:start"> </span><a href="mailto:kcolwell@foe.org" style="text-align:start;color:purple" target="_blank">kcolwell@foe.org</a></p><p align="center" style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;text-align:center">###<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Contact:<span> </span>Frank
Larkin, IAM<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span> </span><a href="tel:301-967-4520" value="+13019674520" target="_blank">301-967-4520</a>
(office)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:3.5in;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><a href="tel:202-285-3831" value="+12022853831" target="_blank">202-285-3831</a> (mobile)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">Machinists Union
President Responds to TPP Signing<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u></u> <u></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Washington, D.C., February 3, 2016</span></b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> - </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">International President Robert Martinez, Jr., of
the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers issued the
following statement on the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership by the
Obama Administration.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">We
are deeply disappointed by the announcement of today’s signing of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which by all accounts will increase the U.S.
trade deficit and lead to the export of more family wage American jobs.
Eight years ago, then candidate Barack Obama campaigned for President on a
platform that called for a “new day in trade” that would break the job killing
NAFTA model. Unfortunately, the TPP continues that same corporate driven
model and, now, nearly a decade later we are still waiting for a trade
agreement that benefits American working families. <u></u><u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">The
TPP fails to deal with the rampant currency manipulation by our competitors in
Asia. This market distorting trade practice leaves U.S. businesses and
workers at a severe disadvantage and will continue the hemorrhaging of American
manufacturing jobs, particularly to countries lacking fundamental labor rights,
such as, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Mexico. <u></u><u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite
USTR's repeated rhetoric that this agreement reflects internationally labor
standards, the TPP labor chapter contains the same ineffectual provisions as in
other U.S. trade agreements. The TPP fails to include the International
Labor Organization Conventions which explicitly define basic labor
rights. We are dismayed that a country like Malaysia that has been cited
for slavery would be permitted to be a signatory to the TPP.<u></u><u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">Additionally,
the Rules of Origin for autos are even weaker than the NAFTA standards that led
to the exodus of parts production from the U.S. As a result, autos
produced in Japan could be assembled with the majority of the parts coming from
China and imported to the U.S. market tariff free. We have no reason to
believe that the Rules of Origin standards are any better for other
manufactured goods.<u></u><u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">American
working families continue to struggle with stagnate income growth while those
at the top garner more of our Nation’s wealth. For average Americans the
TPP is just another example of a rigged economic system that makes daily life
harder and harder and their children’s future more tenuous and uncertain.
Our corporate driven trade policy must be changed to benefit working families
and we call upon Congress to begin that process by rejecting the TPP.<u></u><u></u></span></i></p><p>The IAM is one of the largest industrial trade unions in North America,
representing more than 600,000 active and retired members in dozens of
industries. <u></u><u></u></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif">
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<u></u><u></u><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:11px"><b><a href="http://www.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2016/united-steelworkers-usw-international-usw-tpp-another-bad-trade-deal-threatening-american-jobs-and-manufacturing" target="_blank">http://www.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2016/united-steelworkers-usw-international-usw-tpp-another-bad-trade-deal-threatening-american-jobs-and-manufacturing</a></b></span></font><b style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>CONTACT: </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">Wayne Ranick:<b> </b><a href="tel:%28412%29%20562-2444" value="+14125622444" target="_blank">(412) 562-2444</a><b> </b>February 3, </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">2016<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span><a href="mailto:wranick@usw.org" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">wranick@usw.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Gary Hubbard: <a href="tel:%28202%29%20778-4384" value="+12027784384" target="_blank">(202) 778-4384</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span> </span><span> </span></span><a href="mailto:ghubbard@usw.org" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">ghubbard@usw.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:20.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">USW:
TPP Another Bad Trade Deal Threatening American Jobs and Manufacturing<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">(Pittsburgh) -- <i>United
Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard issued the following statement
regarding the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in New Zealand:<u></u><u></u></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Today’s signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership in New
Zealand marks the beginning of the process for each of the 12 countries
involved to ratify the deal, but it does nothing to alter the fact that this
proposed agreement is seriously flawed and should be rejected. <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Here in the United States, we know that this agreement
would further undermine American jobs and manufacturing. Whether lacking
provisions to adequately address currency manipulation, labor standards and
environmental degradation, to limit the anticompetitive actions of China’s
state-owned entities, as well as domestic content standards in the automobile
sector, the TPP would further shrink a working American middle class and perpetuate
growing disparities in income and wealth.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">“In the coming months, Americans from all across the country
will be voicing their objections to public officials elected to represent their
interests. They will make it perfectly clear that this proposed agreement is
just like all the previous ones that have destroyed millions of
family-supporting jobs, while shuttering plants and devastating communities.
Corporate interests will be beating the drum to further this transfer of wealth
from the American people to Wall Street and the pockets of corporate
shareholders.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Congress needs to listen to the American people whose
interests they are elected to represent. If the legislation to implement the
TPP is brought before them for a vote, it should be quickly and soundly
defeated. <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"">“It’s long past time for a new approach to trade. Our
current policies are failing. We need a new approach that restores
manufacturing as the engine of America’s economic growth and prosperity.”<span> </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in
metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the
energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public
sector and service occupations.</span></i><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""> For more information: </span></i><a href="http://www.usw.org" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">www.usw.org</span></i></a><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u><u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p>
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<div><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPS';font-weight:700">SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN<br>
FLOOR SPEECH ON THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
FEBRUARY 2, 2016
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPS';font-weight:700">***</span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPS';font-weight:700;font-style:italic">As prepared for delivery***
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">On Thursday, twelve countries will sign a massive trade agreement to change the rules for 40%
of the world’s economy. But the Trans Pacific Partnership won’t go into effect unless Congress
approves it. I urge my colleagues to reject the TPP and stop an agreement that would tilt the
playing field even more in favor of big multinational corporations and against working families.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">Much of the debate over this trade agreement has been described as a fight over America’s role
in setting the rules of international trade. But this is a deliberate diversion. In fact, the United
States already has free trade agreements with half of the TPP countries. Most of the TPP’s 30
chapters don’t even deal with traditional trade issues. No, most of the TPP is about letting
multinational corporations rig the rules – on everything from patent protection to food safety
standards – all to benefit themselves.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">The first clue about who the TPP helps is who wrote it. Twenty-eight trade advisory committees
were formed to whisper in the ear of our trade negotiators—to urge them to move this way or
that in the negotiations. Who are the special, privileged whisperers? 85% are senior corporate
executives or industry lobbyists. Many of the committees – including those on chemicals and
pharmaceuticals, aerospace equipment, textiles and clothing, and financial services – are 100%
industry representatives. In 15 advisory committees, no one—no one—was in the room who
represented American workers or American consumers. No one was in the room who worried
about the enforcement of environmental issues or protection against human rights abuses. Nope.
Day after day, meeting after meeting, our official negotiators listened to the whispers of those
giant industries—and heard little from anyone else.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">The second clue about what’s going on is that it all happened behind closed doors. The US Trade
Representative, Michael Froman, says the U.S. has been working to negotiate this trade deal for
over five and a half years. 5 </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">1⁄2 </span><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">years. But the text of the agreement was hidden from public view
until 3 months ago. And when I say hidden, I mean hidden: the drafts were kept under lock and
key so that even members of the US Senate had to go to a secure location to see them—and then
we weren’t allowed to say anything to anyone about what we had seen.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">A rigged process produces a rigged outcome. When the people whispering in the ears of our
negotiators are mostly top executives and lobbyists for the biggest corporations – and when the
public is shut out of the negotiating process –the final deal tilts in favor of corporate interests.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">Evidence of this tilt can be seen in a key TPP provision: Investor State Dispute Settlement
(ISDS). With ISDS, big companies get the right to challenge laws they don’t like, not in courts,
</span></p>
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<div><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">but in front of industry-friendly arbitration panels that sit outside of any court system. Those
panels can force taxpayers to write huge checks to big corporations—with no appeals. Workers,
environmentalists, and human rights advocates don’t get that special right; only corporations do.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">Most Americans don’t think of keeping dangerous pesticides out of our food or keeping our
drinking water clean as trade issues. But all over the globe, companies have used ISDS to
demand compensation for laws they don’t like. Just last year, a mining company won an ISDS
case when Canada denied the company permits to blast off the coast of Nova Scotia. Now,
Canadian taxpayers are on the hook for up to $300 million – all because their government tried
to protect its environment and the livelihood of its local fishermen.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">And ISDS hasn’t been a problem just for other countries. We’ve seen the dangers of ISDS here
at home. Last year, the U.S. State Department concluded, and President Obama agreed, that the
Keystone XL pipeline would
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">The nation’s top experts in law and economics have warned us about the dangers of ISDS. Nobel
Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz, Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe, and others
recently noted that if ISDS panels force countries to pay high enough fines, the countries will
“voluntarily” drop the health, safety, labor and environmental laws that big corporations don’t
like. That was exactly what Germany did in 2011 when they cut back on environmental
regulations after an ISDS lawsuit.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">Everyone understands the risks of ISDS. In fact, the issue got so hot over tobacco companies
using ISDS to roll back health standards around the world, that the TPP negotiators decided to
limit the use of ISDS to challenge tobacco laws. That’s a bald admission that ISDS can be used
to weaken public health laws. I’m glad tobacco laws are protected from ISDS, but what about
food safety laws, or drug safety laws, or any other regulation designed to protect our
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">citizens? Under TPP, every other company—regardless of the health or safety impact—will be
able to use ISDS.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'TimesNewRomanPSMT'">Congress will have to vote straight up or down on TPP. We won’t have a chance to strip out any
of the worst provisions, like ISDS. That’s why I oppose the TPP and hope Congress will use its
constitutional authority to stop this deal before it makes things even worse—and more
dangerous—for America’s hard-working families. </span></p>
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</div><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12.000000pt;font-family:'Cambria'"> </span></p>
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