Critics of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact pushed by the Obama administration say secrecy is marking its progress – so much so that it’s easier to get information about ISIS than the TPP.
Members of Congress looking for the latest information on this deal are actually required to go to basement room in the Capitol Visitor Center and peruse the package one section at a time, while under surveillance. They’re also told they must hand over any notes they take to the room monitors. And it goes almost without saying: They’re banned from discussing their talks outside of the room.
Where do international agreements take the United States? It’s all in “The Late Great U.S.A.”
“It’s like being in kindergarten,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat who’s taken a leading role opposing Obama’s trade agenda, Politico reported. “You give back the toys at the end.”
The White House, which has been overseeing a massive lobby effort about the deal, has been mum on its contents. What’s known is Obama wants fast-track authority so he can wind trade deals through Congress without having to deal with amendments.
But the details of the TPP itself is pretty secret, and the Obama administration explains that shroud is necessary to keeping America’s economy competitive with other nations.
Some lawmakers, however, say the secrecy is unnecessary.
“My chief of staff who has a top secret security clearance can learn more about ISIS or Yemen than about this trade agreement,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who steadfastly opposes fast-track authority for the president, Politico reported.
Other lawmakers criticized U.S. trade representative Mike Froman, who’s been in charge of the secret briefings.
“He’s incredibly condescending,” said Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman, Politico reported. “It’s like, ‘You’d be all for this if only you hadn’t gotten an F in economics.”
Sherman says he stands against the TPP because of its failure to include labor standards.
And Rep. Alan Grayson, Democrat for Florida, said: “It’s not only condescending. It’s misleading.”
Obama, meanwhile, prickles when the TPP discussions are called secret.
He said at a news conference in the Rose Garden with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: “[Congress is] going to have 60 days before I even sign it to look at the text, and then a number of months after that before they have to take a final vote.”
