[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13232]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Velazquez) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to 
another bad trade deal that could soon be forced upon us. It is 
possible that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, could be brought 
before this body for a final vote before the end of the year and end of 
this Congress.
  We have seen time and again what bad trade deals do to our 
communities and to working families across this Nation. You see, when 
NAFTA was under consideration, American workers were told that the 
trade benefits would mean more jobs and economic opportunities.
  What actually happened? We saw a net loss of 700,000 jobs thanks to 
NAFTA. So if history is any guide, we know what to expect from TPP. But 
in many ways, this agreement is even more harmful than NAFTA. In fact, 
the core of this deal is allowing foreign corporations to sue the U.S. 
Government over regulations they simply do not like.

                              {time}  1045

  Imagine, any time there is an environmental regulation or worker 
safety regulation that a company does not care for, they can sue.
  These cases will not go through the regular legal process. Instead, 
TPP creates a special tribunal of three corporate lawyers to evaluate 
the case. And if a company convinces these three lawyers that a law or 
regulation violates their TPP rights, well, then the American taxpayer 
has to pay these corporations enormous compensation.
  Let's be clear. There is no appeal process. There is no way to 
reverse these decisions. The TPP could put the taxpayer on the hook for 
almost unlimited sums of money.
  It is no wonder that this agreement was negotiated in private. While 
corporations were given plenty of opportunity to comment on how they 
wanted the agreement to look, the public and workers were not given a 
seat in the room--or even the chance to review the text before it was 
finalized.
  The end result, unsurprisingly, is an agreement that is bad for the 
American people and would affect their daily lives in countless ways. 
American workers would find themselves competing for jobs against 
workers in places like Vietnam, who make 65 cents an hour--65 cents an 
hour.
  It is no wonder that this agreement would require the U.S. to import 
food that does not meet our own safety standards. It would mean more 
expensive prescription drugs for our seniors, and it would curtail 
policies meant to fight climate change.
  Mr. Speaker, the TPP is 6,000 pages long. It is too big and covers 
too much. It has too many unintended consequences. There should be no 
rush to push this agreement through the House before the end of the 
year.
  However, if this agreement is put on the floor this year, I will vote 
``no,'' and I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same. Protect 
working families. Protect the American consumer. Protect our 
environment. Vote ``no'' on the TPP.

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