Sen. Bernie Sanders put a big danger warning on the TPP bomb-in-the-box at the end of his "THE TRANS-PACIFIC TRADE (TPP) AGREEMENT MUST BE DEFEATED" memo. Sanders says
"Once TPP is agreed to, it has no sunset date and could only be altered by a consensus of all of the countries that agreed to it. Other countries, like China, could be allowed to join in the future. For example, Canada and Mexico joined TPP negotiations in 2012 and Japan joined last year."
Sen's. Sherrod Brown [OH] and Gary Peters have unpacked that scary box in their Senate floor speeches shown below. They are trying to defuse it with their Brown-Peters proposed S.AMDT.1251 to change
H.R.1314, Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act, which is the legislative vehicle the Senate is using for the "FastTrack" law called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) triple-plus super secret "deal" will not survive without making TPA a law first.
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Senate - May 18, 2015: Brown-Peters S.AMDT.1251 Amends: H.R.1314 , S.AMDT.1221 Sponsor: Sen. Sherrod Brown [OH] (submitted 5/18/2015) Cosponsors: Sen's. Gary Peters, Chuck Schumer, Debbie Stabenow, Bob Menendez, Bob Casey, Jegg Merkley (text: CR S2967 [Page: S2967] GPO's PDF) AMENDMENT NO. 1251 TO AMENDMENT NO. 1221 Mr. BROWN proposes an amendment numbered 1251 to amendment No. 1221. The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To require the approval of Congress before additional countries may join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement)
At the end of section 107, add the following:
(c) Limitations on Additional Countries Joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.--
(1) IN GENERAL.--The trade authorities procedures shall apply to an implementing bill submitted with respect to an agreement described in subsection (a)(2) with the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries only if that implementing bill covers only the countries that are parties to the negotiations for that agreement as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) APPLICABILITY OF TRADE AUTHORITIES PROCEDURES TO ADDITIONAL COUNTRIES.--If a country or countries not a party to the negotiations for the agreement described in subsection (a)(2) as of the date of the enactment of this Act enter into negotiations to join the agreement after that date, the trade authorities procedures shall apply to an implementing bill submitted with respect to an agreement with such country or countries to join the agreement described in subsection (a)(2) only if--
(A) the President notifies Congress of the intention of the President to enter into negotiations with such country or countries in accordance with section 105(a)(1)(A);
(B) during the 90-day period provided for under section 105(a)(1)(A) before the President initiates such negotiations--
(i) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate each certify that such country or countries are capable of meeting the standards of the Trans-Pacific Partnership; and
(ii) the House of Representatives and the Senate each approve a resolution approving such country or countries entering into negotiations to join the agreement described in subsection (a)(2);
(C) the agreement with such country or countries to join the agreement described in subsection (a)(2) is entered into before--
(i) July 1, 2018; or
(ii) July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are extended under section 103(c); and
(D) that implementing bill covers only such country or countries.
Mr. BROWN. ...very briefly, in 30 seconds, I will explain the amendment.
There are 12 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If at some point the President of the United States would like to add another country or two, this amendment simply says that Congress must approve; there must be a vote of the U.S. House of Representatives and a vote of the Senate in order to admit a new country.
There is some concern that the People's Republic of China, which is now the second largest economy in the world, would come in through the backdoor without congressional approval.
[Page: S2968] GPO's PDF
We want to make sure that neither the President who is in the White House today nor the next President nor the President after that can admit China or any other country with any other large economy or small economy in the TPP without congressional approval.
We will discuss and debate this amendment more tomorrow, (May 19, 2015).
May 19, 2015 [Page: S3024] GPO's PDF
--- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
Mr. BROWN. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the Presiding Officer being my colleague from my State of Ohio.
AMENDMENT NO. 1251 Mr. President, with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we are considering the largest trade deal in our Nation's history. Forty percent of GDP is affected by the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We have a responsibility to ensure this deal does not get any bigger without congressional approval. That is why I am offering this amendment, the so-called docking amendment, along with many of my colleagues, to prevent the Trans-Pacific Partnership from being a backdoor trade agreement with China. What does that mean? Right now, there is nothing in this trade legislation--nothing--that we are considering to prevent the People's Republic of China from joining the TPP at a later date. Without a formal process requiring congressional input and approval for countries like China to join the TPP, we might as well be talking about the China free-trade agreement.
This amendment spells out in law a detailed, important process, step by step, for future TPP partners to join the agreement. It does not say they cannot join; it just says here is how they join--because TPP and TPA seem to be silent on that.
Here is how it works. The President would be required to notify Congress of his or her intent to enter into negotiations with a country that wants to join the TPP. The notice period would be 90 days. During that time, the Finance Committee and the Ways and Means Committee would have to vote to certify that the country considering joining the TPP is capable of meeting the standards of the agreement. It would stop sort of backdoor Presidential authority, whether it is President Obama or the next President making that decision. After that, both the Senate and the House would have to pass a resolution within the 90-day window approving that country joining the negotiations.
So if the President decides that he or she wants China to join these 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries, the President cannot do that unilaterally. The President needs to go through this process and ultimately bring it to a vote by Congress. Then the American people can have their say. If it is just done unilaterally and quickly and maybe even kind of quietly by the President, the public would have no input. But if it goes through the congressional process, the Finance Committee and the Ways and Means Committee--I do not think we speak to the order of that--the notice period would be 90 days, so the country would then have 90 days to speak its mind about what we all think, we 300-some million people in this country think about this new country--not just China. That is obviously the most important, the most salient, the one we pay the most attention to--the second largest economy in the world. The implementing bill for that country to join the TPP would be subject to fast-track authority only if TPA were still in effect at that time. This process is vital to ensuring a public debate on what would be one of the most consequential economic decisions in a decade.
TPP, as we all know, already affects 40 percent of the world's GDP. If China piggybacks on this agreement, we will be looking at a sweeping agreement that will encompass the two largest economies on Earth. In fact, it would then perhaps be three; it would be the United States, then China, then Japan. A deal of that scale demands public scrutiny. A deal of that scale demands congressional input. A deal of that scale demands that the American public weigh in.
We know China already expressed interest in joining the agreement at the end of last year. News reports indicate they are monitoring these talks closely. Of course they are. We also know China manipulates its currency, even though Presidents Obama and Bush would not say that. We know they manipulate their currency. We know China floods our market with subsidized and dumped steel imports. We know China pursues an industrial policy designed to undercut American manufacturing.
Sitting in front of me is the junior Senator from the State of Washington, who has worked so hard and is on this floor to make sure it happens, that we reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. We know what China has done there to sort of end run the United States and what the failure of our doing that here would mean to even give greater advantages to China.
Mr. President, 2016 will mark China's 15-year anniversary in the World Trade Organization. We saw what happened after Congress, in 1999, 2000--that period--normalized trade relations with China. China became a member of the World Trade Organization. Fifteen years ago, our trade deficit with China was not much more than $15 billion a year. Today, our trade deficit with China is $25 billion a month. So it went
[Page: S3025] GPO's PDF
from $15 billion to a factor of $300 billion--all in the space of 15 years. Think about that.
We know what Presidents over time have said about trade deficits--that when we have a trade deficit of $1 billion, what that means for lost jobs. It means we are buying $1 billion worth of goods more than we are selling to that country. Every day with China, we buy $1 billion more of goods--every day almost $1 billion--$900 million, roughly, more than we sell to China every day. We know what that means on job loss. We are not making it in the United States. They will make it in China. The workers in China are making it, not the workers in the United States. So that trade gap with China represents a huge percentage of our total U.S. trade deficit. Meanwhile, China continues to thwart the rules with impunity.
We have focused on integrating China into the international system--something we want to do--but we only hope it will comply with the rules we should follow. We give China chance after chance, pushing for increased engagement. China continues to play by its own rules. Currency manipulation is a good example.
I appreciate the Presiding Officer's work on that issue, on currency manipulation. That should be voted on in this body in the next, I assume, 48 years.
Year after year, the U.S. Treasury says China's currency is significantly undervalued. Year after year, we give China a chance--another chance, another chance--to change its monetary policy, but we will not call China a currency manipulator. President Bush would not do it. President Obama would not do it. Up to 5 million American workers have lost their jobs. Our trade deficit has grown by hundreds of billions of dollars due to currency manipulation.
We have clear evidence that China disregards international trade laws. Why would we think it would be any different if they get a backdoor entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership? That is why we cannot allow TPP to become a backdoor way to pass a free-trade agreement with China without a vote in Congress.
I know Senator Menendez has raised these concerns for a while. I appreciate that support and the support of our other cosponsors on this issue.
This amendment is not a poison pill. All this amendment does is clarify the process for new countries to join the TPP, should it pass. It does not say we cannot bring in new countries. It does say that Congress has to vote on it. Congressional approval is not required for additional non-Communist countries to join WTO agreements after the United States enters into them. We need this amendment to prevent that same so-called docking process from being used with the TPP. China and those countries like China that are not market economies are differently structured economies, different kinds of countries. We are not saying: No, never. You cannot enter into the TPP. We are simply saying Congress should have a say in it and, most importantly, the public should be able to speak out on this and have a period of time to talk to their Members of Congress.
I urge my colleagues to join me in adopting this critical amendment.
May 19, 2015
[Page: S3052] GPO's PDF
--- The PRESIDING OFFICER. ...Without objection,...
Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, first off, I agree with Senator Brown and Senator Hatch on how important this debate before us is. In fact, because it is so important, I certainly hope we have an opportunity to debate fully its ramifications, especially with issues such as the Ex-Im Bank, which I heard two of my colleagues discuss with some vigor just a few moments ago.
AMENDMENT NO. 1251 At this time I wish to talk about an amendment that I am offering with Senator Brown to require approval of Congress before any additional countries may join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The 12 countries currently participating in TPP negotiations encompass about 40 percent of the global gross domestic Product. This would be the largest free-trade agreement since NAFTA, and Members should know that this agreement has the potential to expand to a number of additional countries without congressional approval.
The administration has said that they would welcome interest from other nations, including China, in joining TPP. Given the impact that trade deals, such as NAFTA, have had on American businesses and workers, I would argue that it is important that Congress not only be notified of new negotiations but also have the opportunity to vote on whether to move forward with bringing on additional countries into multinational trade negotiations.
If Congress were to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it should not and must not be a blank check to bring in additional nations without congressional approval.
I am particularly concerned about countries that manipulate the value of their currency and gain an unfair advantage over U.S. workers, steal intellectual property from American innovators, engage in unfair labor practices, damage the environment, and do not abide by existing trade deals.
Just yesterday, a Federal grand jury indicted six Chinese citizens for stealing trade secrets. Last year, five Chinese military officers were caught stealing intellectual property from U.S. companies. The United States has brought 16 claims against China at the World Trade Organization, and the Chinese Government has consistently manipulated their currency against our dollar.
Despite these serious problems, the administration has said that they would welcome interest from China in joining TPP. If providing fast-track authority makes it easier for countries such as China to join the TPP, robust congressional oversight is critical.
Senator Brown and I have offered an amendment to explicitly ensure that this oversight is available and that Congress has the opportunity to vote on the addition of any new countries to TPP negotiations. Our amendment will require the President to notify Congress before entering negotiations with another country seeking to join the TPP. It provides 90 days for Congress to conduct hearings and investigations and ultimately hold any potential new entrant accountable for unfair trade practices.
The House and Senate will need to affirmatively pass a resolution of approval for any new country to join TPP negotiations.
Nations such as China will not be able to join through unilateral action by a future White House. I urge my colleagues to support the Brown-Peters amendment.
McConnell filed Cloture Motions for S.AMDT.1221 and H.R.1314 late on May 19, 2015.
The Brown-Peters amendment SA 1251 will likely be included in voting on either or both.
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