TPP negotiators are meeting in Singapore from December 7 to 9 to attempt to complete the text of the TPP agreement. As the year ends, pressure is growing to both finish the TPP and to pass Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority in Congress. If the President is given Fast Track, then he can sign the TPP and Congress will have a limited time to read the agreement before they are required to vote up or down on it. Fast Track has been used historically to pass trade agreements that would not survive under Congressional scrutiny.
Congress only has one more week in session this year, the week of December 9. So far our pressure to stop the TPP has been working. Close to 200 members of Congress have expressed opposition to Fast Track. We must keep the pressure on (because you know that the corporate lobbyists are) to send Congress home with a clear message that they must not give up their responsibility under the Constitution to oversee commerce and they must go through the process of understanding the full implications of the TPP before they vote on it. That means that they must oppose Fast Track.
Our focus for the final week is on the House of Representatives, especially the members of the Ways and Means Committee which is responsible for creating the Fast Track legislation.
Please take time this week to contact your member of Congress. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
1. Find your member’s website: You can search for your member at House.gov even if you don’t know who your member is.
2. Find your member’s phone number and email: You will find his or her contact information on their website. You can choose to call the DC office or use the email contact form on the website.
3. Make the call or send the email. Keep it short and focused. Here is a sample script:
“Hello, my name is _________________ and I live in __________________. I am calling (writing) to ask you to oppose giving the President Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
You can stop there or you can give a reason why you oppose the TPP. Perhaps you are concerned about food safety, the price of medications, the environment, internet freedom, worker rights or the loss of sovereignty.
If your member is on the Ways and Means Committee, please ask them to prevent Fast Track legislation from leaving the committee.
Here is a list of the committee members:
Dave Camp, MI, Chairman
Sam Johnson, TX
Kevin Brady, TX
Paul Ryan, WI
Devin Nunes, CA
Pat Tiberi, OH
Dave G. Reichert, WA
Charles W. Boustany Jr., LA
Peter J. Roskam, IL
Jim Gerlach, PA
Tom Price, GA
Vern Buchanan, FL
Adrian Smith, NE
Aaron Schock, IL
Lynn Jenkins, KS
Erik Paulsen, MN
Kenny Marchant, TX
Diane Black, TN
Tom Reed, NY
Todd Young, IN
Mike Kelly, PA
Tim Griffin, AR
Jim Renacci, OH
Sander Levin, MI, Ranking Member
Charles B. Rangel, NY
Jim McDermott, WA
John Lewis, GA
Richard E. Neal, MA
Xavier Becerra, CA
Lloyd Doggett, TX
Mike Thompson, CA
John B. Larson, CT
Earl Blumenauer, OR
Ron Kind, WI
Bill Pascrell Jr., NJ
Joseph Crowley, NY
Allyson Schwartz, PA
Danny Davis, IL
Linda Sánchez, CA