Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, the leading proponent of President Obama's effort to pass three highly secretive trade agreements, channeled former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in congressional testimony Wednesday.
With some of his Republican colleagues demanding that the public be allowed to see the draft text of the agreements, Ryan echoed Pelosi's famous declaration that Congress had to pass Obamacare "so that you can find out what is in it."
"It's declassified and made public once it's agreed to," Ryan said in a hearing of the House Rules Committee.
Ryan is trying to convince House Republicans to vote for Trade Promotion Authority, which would fast-track at least three other bills, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
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The draft of the agreements are accessible only in a secured room in the basement of the Capitol to members of Congress and some senior staff with a security clearance.
Ryan's comment came when another member of Congress suggested it would be a welcome day when people can read the proposals.
The Washington Times reported Ryan believes there are enough votes in the House to move forward on Obama's trade strategy.
"We have the votes that we hope to have," he said, anticipating a Friday vote.
The Senate already has passed Trade Promotion Authority.
"We are where we want to be, where we were planning on being," Ryan said, "but some Democrats are going to have to support this to get this over the finish line – we've been saying that all along.
"Either we shape the global economy as Americans with trade agreements, or it shapes us," Ryan said. "The rest of the world is moving. They're getting trade agreements – China, Europe – and we're not. That means we're getting frozen out of markets, and other people are writing the rules of [the] global economy, and as an American who wants to lead, who wants to see our country lead, this is why I’m trying to pass trade."
The National Journal noted this week that Ryan added a provision to the legislation that would prevent Obama from inserting environmental requirements to combat "climate change."
Ryan said his provision would "ensure that trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to global warming or climate change."
WND reported Wednesday on the immigration policy changes embedded in the trade deals.
Breitbart News had asked immigration experts to review trade-agreement documents that have been posted online by Wikileaks.
Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for Numbers USA, said there are seemingly innocuous changes such as the removal of an economic needs test for visa applications and a shorter time limit for processing applications, but together they reveal the agenda.
"The existence of these 10 pages on immigration in the Trade and Services Agreement make it absolutely clear in my mind that the administration is negotiating immigration – and for them to say they are not – they have a lot of explaining to do based on the actual text in this agreement," Jenks told Breitbart News.
She was referring to Obama's Trade in Services Act.
Breitbart found TISA is written to include a listing of about 40 industries "where potentially the U.S. visa processes would have to change to accommodate the requirements within the agreement."
"Jenks explained that under the agreement, the terms don't have an economic needs based test, which currently U.S. law requires for some types of visa applications in order to show there aren't American workers available to fill positions," the analysis said.
On another page, the agreement states, "The period of processing applications may not exceed 30 days."
It's a massive problem for the U.S. because so many visa applications take longer than 30 days, according to Jenks.
"We will not be able to meet those requirements without essentially our government becoming a rubber stamp," she said.
She warned that the "fact that there's a footnote in this agreement that says that face to face interviews are too burdensome … we're supposed to be doing face to face interviews with applicants for temporary visas."
According to the State Department Consular Officer, she said, "it's the in person interviews that really give the consular officer an opportunity to determine – is this person is a criminal, is this person a terrorist … all of those things are more easily determined when you're sitting face to face with someone and asking those questions."
Thirdly, she noted that there appears to be an opening to create agreements that extend for more than seven years, which would be a change in current U.S. law.
A Republican aide on Capitol Hill told WND, "This is the smoking gun that shows Paul Ryan wasn't telling the truth."
Ryan said recently it was "an urban legend" that TPP contained language that would advance Obama's immigration agenda. The aide said the TPA vote moves all of the trade bills, so whether the language is in TPP or TISA doesn't matter.
"There’s no way we (House Republicans) would sign off on immigration reform in the trade agreements," Ryan had said.
It's just one of the ways Obama is moving to loosen immigration practices in the U.S. He had his officials issue a number of orders to that effect, but those moves have been halted by a federal court.
Administration officials nevertheless were unabashed in their intent to move forward.
Cecilia Munoz, White House domestic policy director, said it's important to put the judge's ruling "in context, because the broader executive actions are moving forward."
"The administration continues to implement the portions of the actions that the president and the Department of Homeland Security took, which were not affected by the court's ruling," she said.
The judge's order said: "The United States of America, its departments, agencies, officers, agents and employees and Jeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; R. Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of United States customs and Border Protection; Ronald D. Vitiello, deputy chief of United States Border Patrol, United States Customs and Border Protection; Thomas S. Winkowski, acting director of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and Leon Rodriguez, director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services are hereby enjoined from implementing any and all aspects or phases of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents."
And even Obama himself said he couldn't do it alone.
House Speaker John Boehner has listed online 22 times when Obama has made such statements.
For example, in October 2010, Obama said: "I am president, I am not king. I can't do these things just by myself. … I've got to have some partners to do it. … If Congress has laws on the books that says that people who are here who are not documented have to be deported, then I can exercise some flexibility in terms of where we deploy our resources, to focus on people who are really causing problems as opposed to families who are just trying to work and support themselves. But there's a limit to the discretion that I can show because I am obliged to execute the law. … I can't just make the laws up by myself."
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