To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Congress: Use your power to publish the TPP
Just Foreign Policy
We urge you to use your power to declassify and publish the draft Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
Why is this important?
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is that it’s secret from the public. If the proponents of the agreement have their way, the text will still be secret from the public when the House votes on Fast Track trade negotiating authority, essentially a vote to pre-approve the agreement.
Members of Congress, individually and collectively, could do something about this. For example,
- The House and Senate intelligence committees have the power to declassify any document in their possession if they believe that doing so would serve the public interest. [1]
- Any individual Member of Congress could publish—e.g., by entering into the Congressional Record—a portion of the draft TPP negotiating text, as Republican Congressman Darrel Issa did when he published the intellectual property chapter. [2]
- Members of the House who have not yet committed to vote no on Fast Track could pledge to vote no on Fast Track if the text of the TPP is not made public before the vote.
Urge Congress to use its power to force publication of the TPP text by signing our petition.
Sources:
1. "Congress Can—and Should—Declassify the TPP," Foreign Policy in Focus, May 27, 2015
http://fpif.org/congress-can-and-should-declassify-the-tpp/
2. "Issa Releases the Trans Pacific Partnership Intellectual Property Rights Chapter on KeeptheWebOPEN.com," Congressman Darrell Issa's website, May 15, 2012
http://issa.house.gov/press-releases/2012/05/issa-releases-the-trans-pacific-partnership-intellectual-property-rights-chapter-on-keepthewebopencom/
Members of Congress, individually and collectively, could do something about this. For example,
- The House and Senate intelligence committees have the power to declassify any document in their possession if they believe that doing so would serve the public interest. [1]
- Any individual Member of Congress could publish—e.g., by entering into the Congressional Record—a portion of the draft TPP negotiating text, as Republican Congressman Darrel Issa did when he published the intellectual property chapter. [2]
- Members of the House who have not yet committed to vote no on Fast Track could pledge to vote no on Fast Track if the text of the TPP is not made public before the vote.
Urge Congress to use its power to force publication of the TPP text by signing our petition.
Sources:
1. "Congress Can—and Should—Declassify the TPP," Foreign Policy in Focus, May 27, 2015
http://fpif.org/congress-can-and-should-declassify-the-tpp/
2. "Issa Releases the Trans Pacific Partnership Intellectual Property Rights Chapter on KeeptheWebOPEN.com," Congressman Darrell Issa's website, May 15, 2012
http://issa.house.gov/press-releases/2012/05/issa-releases-the-trans-pacific-partnership-intellectual-property-rights-chapter-on-keepthewebopencom/