Last Friday, progressive Democrats in Congress, and activists like you, dealt what is being called by the press a “staggering blow” to President Obama’s job-killing, secret trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
One hundred and forty-three Democrats stood up to the White House, Wall Street lobbyists and the Chamber of Commerce and voted to defeat a package of bills that would have given President Obama Fast Track authority for the TPP.
But this fight is far from over. President Obama and his allies in Republican leadership are scrambling to find a strategy to pass the bills. And, we can be sure that pressure from the White House will increase in advance of the next vote, which could be held as soon as this week.
We need to thank the Democrats that who voted to put the rights of the American people ahead of the profits of multinational corporations.
To stop the TPP, we need to stop Fast Track.
It’s the job of Congress to fully vet trade deals and ensure they work for everyone, not just giant corporations. And it would be a deeply irresponsible abdication of responsibility for Congress to pass Fast Track when we know the TPP is coming down the pike, especially when we know the consequences of the TPP could be disastrous.
That is why the overwhelming majority of House Democrats voted against the package of bills that would have advanced Fast Track Authority for the TPP. And dozens of House Republicans oppose Fast Track because it takes power away from Congress and gives it to President Obama.
The failure of the White House to win the key vote to advance Fast Track shows that the hundreds of thousands of CREDO members who spoke out against job-killing trade deals are making a big difference despite an all-out effort by Wall Street lobbyists, the Chamber of Commerce, and the White House to ram this through.
Now we need to keep speaking out by thanking the Democrats that did the right thing and voted against Fast Track for TPP.
Thank you for your activism.