Congress

UN Experts Say TPP & Fast Track Threaten Human Rights

May 8, 2015 Maira Sutton, www.eff.org Educate! Congress, Human Rights, TPP

Last week, an independent UN expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas, said that the secrecy surrounding trade negotiations is a threat to human rights because it disenfranchises and excludes the public from "the right and opportunity to take part in the conduct of public affairs." He urges human rights impact assessments be undertaken immediately as part of the negotiation process, and goes on to say that fast tracking these deals to approval has a detrimental impact on a democratic, equitable world order. We agree, and have been fighting Fast Track legislation in the U.S. to stop back-room negotiations that led to the TPP's provisions become legitimized by the bill's passage. In his statements, he particularly singles out trade agreements' investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions.

The TPP Threatens A Free And Open Internet

May 8, 2015 Sean Nevins, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Congress, Free Trade, Freedom of Expression, Internet, TPP

Legislation to “fast track” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has moved through both committees in the House and the Senate. This legislation, which would enable President Barack Obama to negotiate the terms of the international agreement without congressional input, is now on the floor of the House. While the TPP has come under increasing scrutiny for its potential to erode the sovereignty of countries, an often overlooked aspect of the treaty is its threat to a free and open Internet. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is pushing the worst parts of U.S. copyright policy on the rest of the world without expanding protections for fair use,” said Evan Greer, campaign manager with Fight for the Future, an organization dedicated to protecting Internet freedoms.

Senators Demand Action From Pentagon On Reprisal

May 2, 2015 Corporate Crime Reporter, www.corporatecrimereporter.com Resist! Congress, Finance and the Economy, Senate

Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa ) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) have sent a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter urging the Secretary to investigate retaliatory actions that the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) took against its former Comptroller after he reported budget shortfalls and accounting practices that he believed violated federal law and regulations to the agency’s director and other officials. DISA is the federal agency responsible for providing and maintaining communications networks for U.S. military forces, the President, Vice President, and the Secretary of Defense.

22-Year Old Commits Suicide At Capitol To Send Message

April 16, 2015 Pam Martens, www.wallstreetonparade.com Educate! Congress, wealth inequality

At approximately 1:07 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, April 11, during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival celebrating springtime in the Nation’s Capitol, a 22-year old man took his own life with a gun on the Capitol grounds with a protest sign taped to his hand. According to the Washington Post, the sign read: “Tax the one percent.” Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police Department released the young man’s name. He was Leo P. Thornton of Lincolnwood, Illinois. Based on what is currently known, the young man had traveled to Washington, D.C. for the express purpose of making a political statement with his sign and then ending his young life. The Chicago Tribune reported that “Thornton’s parents filed a missing persons report on the morning of April 11 after he never came home from work on April 10, Lincolnwood Deputy Police Chief John Walsh said.”

A Climate Change Fix Both The Left & Right Can Embrace

April 2, 2015 Sarah "Steve" Mosco, www.sarahmosko.wordpress.com Create! Climate Change, Congress, Environment, Law

Studies abound linking the increase in extreme weather-related catastrophes in recent decades, like droughts, floods, hurricanes and blizzards, to global climate change. Some climate experts stress the urgency of addressing the problem now, predicting cascading economic and political, social and environmental upheavals worldwide if action is delayed. Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, the CO2 content of earth’s atmosphere has shot up from 275 ppm to over 400 ppm, already well above the 350 ppmlimit some scientists believe is a safe level above which we risk triggering irreversible consequences out of human control.

Digital Rights Activists Use Jumbotron To Pressure Wyden

March 31, 2015 Annie Ellison, www.golocalpdx.com Resist! Capitalism, Congress, Free Trade, TPP

Fight for the Future parked a truck adorned with a Jumbotron on Capitol Hill for an impromptu “film festival” as part of the group’s ongoing campaign to pressure Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to drop legislation that would fast track the multi-national Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deal between countries in Asia, Australia and the Americas would boost U.S. trade, but activists fear it would jeopardize transparency due to issues of internet censorship. “Senator Wyden has built his career on a platform of government transparency and support for Internet freedom,” Fight for the Future campaign director Evan Greer said.

Bi-Partisan Surveillance State Repeal Act Introduced

March 26, 2015 Representative Mark Pocan, Representative Thomas Massie, www.media-alliance.org Educate! Congress, Surveillance

Today, U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced the Surveillance State Repeal Act. The legislation would repeal dragnet federal surveillance laws, while overhauling the NSA’s domestic surveillance program. “The warrantless collection of millions of personal communications from innocent Americans is a direct violation of our constitutional right to privacy,” said Rep. Pocan. “Revelations about the NSA’s programs reveal the extraordinary extent to which the program has invaded Americans’ privacy. I reject the notion that we must sacrifice liberty for security- we can live in a secure nation which also upholds a strong commitment to civil liberties. This legislation ends the NSA’s dragnet surveillance practices, while putting provisions in place to protect the privacy of American citizens through real and lasting change.”

Flood Congress – No TPP, No Fast Track!

March 20, 2015 Art Killing Apathy, www.artkillingapathy.com Resist! Congress, Democracy, fast track, Free Trade, TPP

Earlier today, activists lead by Popular Resistance flooded Congress in a silent protest against TPP and Fast Track. Starting in the Dirksen building, activists put on vests noting all the facets of our lives and rights that would be “Silenced” by the TPP and Fast Track. Along with the vests, blue tape was also used to physically silence the groups as we flooded through the halls of Congress. Split into two groups, activists walked by Congressional offices in the Hart building, accompanied by Press and supporters. Police intervened after a banner drop after which the activists headed to Senator Ron Wyden’s office to drop off personally written letters and occupy his office.

US Trade Rep Threatens Congress With Prosecution

March 18, 2015 Mike Masnick, www.techdirt.com Educate! Congress, Democracy, Law, Transparency

For years now, we've been trying to understand why the US Trade Rep (USTR) is so anti-transparency with its trade negotiations. It insists that everything it's negotiating be kept in near total secrecy until everything is settled, and the public can no longer give input to fix the problems in the agreement. It's a highly questionable stance. Whenever this criticism is put to the USTR directly, it responds by saying that it will listen to anyone who wants to come and talk to the USTR. But, as we've explained multiple times, "listening" is about information going into the USTR. "Transparency" is about information coming out of the USTR. They're not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination.

Sen. Cotton, Paid By Israeli Agents, Should Be Investigated

March 14, 2015 Gareth Porter, www.middleeasteye.net Educate! Congress, Iran, Israel, Law

The “open letter” from Senator Tom Cotton and 46 other Republican Senators to the leadership of Iran, which even Republicans themselves admit was aimed at encouraging Iranian opponents of the nuclear negotiations to argue that the United States cannot be counted on to keep the bargain, has created a new political firestorm. It has been harshly denounced by Democratic loyalists as “stunning” and "appalling”, and critics have accused the signers of the letter of being“treasonous” for allegedly violating a law forbidding citizens from negotiating with a foreign power. But the response to the letter has primarily distracted public attention from the real issue it raises: how the big funders of the Likud Party in Israel control Congressional actions on Iran.

Wyden’s Internet Freedom Allies Fret He’ll Abandon Them

March 14, 2015 Jeff Mapes, www.oregonlive.com Resist! Congress, Internet, Oregon, TPP

Sen. Ron Wyden was greeted Friday morning at his Umatilla town hall meeting by a 30-foot-long blimp urging him to oppose an upcoming trade pack that critics say could curb internet freedom. Activists from Fight for the Future -- a Boston-based nonprofit that works on a variety of open internet issues -- planned to tote its rented blimp around to three other Wyden town halls Friday and Saturday in La Grande, Baker City and Ontario. For grassroots groups like Fight for the Future, the Oregon Democrat has always been one of their biggest champions in Congress. He's been with them on everything from fighting government electronic surveillanceto playing a key role in blocking anti-piracy legislation sought by Hollywood and other big content producers.

Over 100 Legal Scholars Warn About TPP Dangers

March 14, 2015 Dave Johnson, www.ourfuture.org Resist! Congress, Free Trade, Law, TPP

Over 100 law professors sent an open letter to Congress and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) saying they need to “protect the rule of law and the nation’s sovereignty” in trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While TPP is still secret, leaks and precedent indicate that it will contain provisions allowing giant, multinational corporations to bypass our country’s legal system. These provisions will allow these multinational corporations to sue governments, including ours, in “corporate courts” if they decide to pass laws and regulations that restrain the profits of these giant corporations, such as efforts to help citizens quit smoking.

We Must Honor The Legacy Of Selma Foot Soldiers

March 7, 2015 Deborah J. Vagins, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Civil Rights, Congress, Law, Selma

In an important moment of bipartisanship, Congress unanimously passed a bill this month that honors the thousands of people who marched for voting rights 50 years ago in Selma, Alabama, with the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest civilian honor. This legislation was co-sponsored by 149 Republicans and 227 Democrats. On March 7, 1965 at the foot of the Edmund Pettis Bridge, they suffered beatings and the fear of death to peacefully protest for a national voting rights law. Ultimately, they prevailed and that law -- the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- changed the face of America and combated ongoing discrimination to the present day. Unfortunately, in 2013, the Supreme Court crippled one of the most effective protections of that act in its Shelby County v. Holder decision by rendering ineffective the requirement that certain jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination get pre-approval for voting changes.

Media Stunned By Congress’ ‘Loyalty’ To Netanyahu

March 5, 2015 Phillip Weiss, www.mondoweiss.net Educate! Congress, Israel, Palestine

In the Emperor’s New Clothes, only the little boy can say that the emperor is naked. The good news about yesterday’s speech by Netanyahu to a joint meeting of Congress is that lots of media are taking on that boy’s role, and pointing out the nudity: exclaiming over the fact that a foreign leader came into our house of government to try and overrule our president on foreign policy. Chris Matthews was especially forceful, describing it as a takeover. While a New York Times article said that Democrats have to choose between “loyalty to the Jewish state” and the president. But journalists have a bigger job than merely exclaiming. They must explain to readers why this outrage took place. Why did Netanyahu get this platform?

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