To: Rep. Daniel Webster (FL-11)
Stop Fast Track in its Tracks
Vote NO to giving the president trade promotion authority, or fast track! Stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its bad European cousin, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP, or TAFTA). Allow a transparent floor debate. Vote NO on trade promotion or fast track authority!
Why is this important?
Fast Track Authority has been used to pass bills like NAFTA, bills that, if openly debated on their merits would never stand the light of day, bills that have cost millions of manufacturing jobs, and have severely damaged the U S economy. TPP and TTIP would further eliminate manufacturing and service jobs, create investor-state entities that would have power over our sovereign U S and state governments, override U S food and water safety laws, allow currency manipulation, destroy labor laws, severely limit internet freedoms, and, most damaging to Florida’s seniors, do away with affordable medications by eliminating generics, through unlimited patent extension of brand-name medications. Our citizens can’t survive such a race to the bottom.
Congress has a responsibility to their constituents, to openly debate any bill respecting trade, and in fact, this authority is spelled out by the United States Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 reads: "The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations." President Obama is asking the House to re-establish Trade Promotion Authority, or fast track, so he and the United States Trade Representative, can ram through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TTP, and its European cousin, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, or TAFTA, which are referred to as NAFTA on steroids by anyone who has read the leaked texts.
Fast track authority expired in 2007, but President Obama, wants to revive it to get these egregious so-called free trade agreements passed without public scrutiny. and very little debate, just like what happened with NAFTA and the WTO.
If these “free trade” agreements are so great, let’s openly debate them on their merits. With so much at stake, we are asking our national representative, not to cede power to the executive branch, who is actively seeking to add another punishing round of "free trade" only made possible through the Constitutionally questionable Trade Promotion Authority or Fast Track. Voting "NO" on Fast Track will allow transparent floor debate, and save us from the TPP and TTIP, because once the people of this country see just what is in these so called free trade agreements, these deals will be dead on arrival.
Fast Track is a procedure that gives more trade authority to the president, and stipulates that the bills in question will have very limited debate, only 20 hours on the House floor, and no possibility to amend, or filibuster, and can only receive an up or down vote. President Obama wants to use Fast Track to ram through the TPP and TTIP, We need our Representative in Washington to Vote "NO" on Fast Track!
Congress has a responsibility to their constituents, to openly debate any bill respecting trade, and in fact, this authority is spelled out by the United States Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 reads: "The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations." President Obama is asking the House to re-establish Trade Promotion Authority, or fast track, so he and the United States Trade Representative, can ram through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TTP, and its European cousin, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, or TAFTA, which are referred to as NAFTA on steroids by anyone who has read the leaked texts.
Fast track authority expired in 2007, but President Obama, wants to revive it to get these egregious so-called free trade agreements passed without public scrutiny. and very little debate, just like what happened with NAFTA and the WTO.
If these “free trade” agreements are so great, let’s openly debate them on their merits. With so much at stake, we are asking our national representative, not to cede power to the executive branch, who is actively seeking to add another punishing round of "free trade" only made possible through the Constitutionally questionable Trade Promotion Authority or Fast Track. Voting "NO" on Fast Track will allow transparent floor debate, and save us from the TPP and TTIP, because once the people of this country see just what is in these so called free trade agreements, these deals will be dead on arrival.
Fast Track is a procedure that gives more trade authority to the president, and stipulates that the bills in question will have very limited debate, only 20 hours on the House floor, and no possibility to amend, or filibuster, and can only receive an up or down vote. President Obama wants to use Fast Track to ram through the TPP and TTIP, We need our Representative in Washington to Vote "NO" on Fast Track!