[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 22, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H2399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REQUEST TO WRITE RULES FOR THE WORLD'S ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Allen). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Russell) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. Speaker, at his State of the Union Address, 
President Obama asked us in Congress to grant us fast-track Trade 
Promotion Authority, so he can ``write rules for the world's economy.''
  I sat alarmed for America's future should we expand this President's 
authority, given how he has extended executive overreach, fumbled our 
foreign policy, debilitated our defense, and diminished our domestic 
tranquility. At least this time, the President asked to bypass 
Congress.
  Regardless of the merits of trade partnership or the tactics of their 
negotiation, two fundamental questions loom: Why do we trust this 
President, given his track record in foreign affairs? And what serious 
harm would come to the Nation by waiting 21 months?
  Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, would prevent Congress from 
amending as much as one word of the rules he writes, a sweeping 
agreement the White House has been working toward for the past 6 years. 
Even if parameters were set beforehand, violations would be subject to 
an up-or-down vote with no amending permitted. Unlike a treaty, a 
simple majority is all that would be needed to pass.
  For Congress to cede oversight on such a sweeping agreement could 
have grave implications. The American people must be at the table, and 
they can be, through their elected representatives in Congress.
  In a balanced process, the full range of congressional committees 
would hold hearings with experts, establish clear objectives, set the 
terms of negotiation, and be regularly informed throughout the 
negotiating process.
  This would ensure trade deals are in the best national interest for 
the long haul, not designed to please some small groups of well-
connected insiders for some tempting short-term benefit.
  While trade is vital in securing economic freedom and in 
strengthening our values and friendships, we must approach any 
partnership with a comprehensive view of its strategic impact. 
Advocates have stated that a Trans-Pacific Partnership will open trade 
involving 40 percent of global economic activity.
  This is a misrepresentation when one considers that 6 of the 11 
nations proposed for the partnership already have strong trade 
agreements with the United States and many of the remainder enjoy 
excellent trade relations, such as with Japan.
  The President also claims a trade surplus without delineating this 
improvement will come from services such as financial, insurance, and 
computing, not from manufacturing, as he purports. Given Obama's 
scathing treatment of financial and insurance investment overseas, one 
wonders if there is not some other hidden motivation.
  Alarmingly, Mr. Obama uses containment language with regard to China 
as a major premise for obtaining fast-track authority. While we employ 
economic instruments of our national power with regard to an ascendant 
China, we must ensure in tandem efforts with diplomatic and 
informational instruments as well. Strategically, these are lacking.
  Further, should a trade dispute result in an impasse, nations 
historically have lashed back with their last remaining option, their 
military. I have been on the receiving end of many of those strategic 
implications. Ours must be prepared--our military--as we explore these 
new frontiers.
  I have heard no serious discussion from anyone in Congress or the 
White House thinking comprehensively and strategically in this manner, 
that our military and our diplomatic efforts must also be resourced and 
reinforced as we move economically in this pivot to Asia.
  When John Hay opened trade with China more than a century ago as a 
hedge on an ascendant Japan to balance European concerns, the 
achievement was widely heralded. Japanese society had rapidly embraced 
Western science and technology since the days of Commodore Perry. A 
vibrant economy blossomed. Western ideas in manufacturing, banking, 
business, and even military doctrine quickly transformed Japan into a 
formidable power. This was not without political consequence.
  Japan had transformed her society, fought as an ally in a world war 
with the West, imported goods to a demanding public, built ships 
together with the West, and signed treaties. Their rapid transformation 
alarmed the Japanese Diet hardliners, who used this anti-Western 
sentiment to wedge political power.
  Within a 15-year span, the lengthy embrace of the West gave way to 
competition for resources, distrust, the fall of Japanese Government, 
and the doctrine of their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
  In only a couple of more years, what was embraced in the West was now 
widely disrespected in Japan. Despised, they were deliberately 
attacked; few ever saw it coming. That Japan and the United States are 
such strong allies and friends today is a testament of our mutual 
commitment to the repairing of human diplomatic and economic tragedies.
  We cannot allow President Obama to rush willy-nilly into a fast-track 
Chinese hegemony without regard to strategic thinking. Given his dismal 
foreign policy record, it comes as no revelation, but it does come with 
consequences. What serious harm will come to our Nation by waiting 21 
months when we have an administration that actually could achieve 
foreign policy successes, instead of one foreign policy defeat after 
another?
  A dog may lap up antifreeze because it seems good to the taste and 
pleasant to the eye, but it does so with consequence. We should not be 
lured by the appeal to our natural senses for trade and economic 
growth.
  Patience now may prevent horrific consequences in a major war in the 
future. We do that by advancing our national instruments of power with 
diplomatic effort, military readiness, and preparedness in tandem with 
our economic effort.
  What serious harm can come by waiting 21 months? As Abraham Lincoln 
famously said:

       Nothing good can be frustrated by time.

  We do not need to give the President this authority. We need to wait, 
have the patience, lay the strategic foundation so that we can do what 
is best for our country, and move into a trade agreement that will have 
a long-lasting foundation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________