The 'other' Obamatrade problem

WASHINGTON – All the controversy over Obamatrade in the establishment media currently swirls around a provision that provides unemployment insurance for workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade. Many Democrats want to expand the welfare program to include public sector workers, while many conservatives want to kill it.

But there is another huge Obamatrade controversy that has almost slipped back under the radar, one that divides conservatives and could have much greater, and longer-lasting, impact on the American economy.

The issue is: Whether giving President Obama increased power to make massive trade deals would also give him more power to massively increase immigration.

The staunchly anti-amnesty Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, believes he has come up with a solution to keep Obama from doing just that.

On June 10, King announced he had reached an agreement on an amendment to Obamatrade with House Ways and Means committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and stated, "My language tells the executive branch that they cannot negotiate changes in our immigration laws or use visa programs as a negotiating tool."

"Further, my language keeps immigration out of all future trade agreements negotiated under TPA (Trade Promotion Authority.) I am confident this has improved TPA and it gets me to a yes on the final bill."

As always, the devil may be in the details, so WND asked King's office to explain how the amendment is supposed to work in practice.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa

Of particular concern is a huge trade deal called The Trade in Services Agreement, or TiSA, currently under negotiation. If the Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, bill is approved by Congress, it would give Obama virtually unlimited power to negotiate the details of such deals as TiSA with no congressional input until a final "yes or no" vote. And a recent leak suggested TiSA would require the U.S. to change laws and practices that could significantly increase immigration.

Given all of that, WND asked King's office: What guarantee is there, if TPA passes, that TiSA won't somehow override King's amendment?

Or that Obama would not just ignore it, as often has been practice when he disagrees with Congress, especially on matter of immigration?

A King spokesman acknowledged there would be no guarantee that President Obama would not ignore the restrictions of TPA.

But, if the president were to do that, the aide noted, that would put Congress in the difficult position of having to vote for a trade agreement that violated U.S. law.

The aide told WND that approving TPA isn't the end of the story; it simply allows big trade agreements to be considered.

"If they violate TPA," the aide said, "Congress can vote to strip fast-track procedure from any individual agreement, and/or, Congress can reject any agreement on a vote."

The spokesman also stressed that if it were not for the King amendment, TPA would have said nothing about immigration and placed no restraints on the president.

"Fast-track" would give the president virtually unlimited power to negotiate trade deals

The amendment, the aide emphasized, gives lawmakers the tools to fight back, should any trade deal include provisions that violate U.S. law.

The aide called the amendment a first step in getting strong language into TPA that makes clear immigration is not to be used as a negotiating tool in trade agreements.

"Once that is done, then comes the ongoing fight to keep trade agreements on the straight and narrow, going forward."

The consensus in Washington has been, if TPA passes and the president gets so-called "fast-track" authority, the huge trade deals that follow would be certain to pass in Congress, including TiSA. But King's spokesman portrayed the congressman's amendment as a way to apply brakes to that fast-track, if needed.

Conservatives may find those brakes will be needed.

On June 6, WikiLeaks published 17 secret documents from the TISA negotiations, which cover the United States, the European Union and 23 other countries, comprising two-thirds of the global economy.

As the accompanying press release noted, "'Services' now account for nearly 80 percent of the US and EU economies."

Wikileaks revealed that TiSA has about 10 pages that deal with immigration provisions.

According to immigration experts interviewed by Breitbart, there were a number of instances in those 10 pages that would require the U.S. to change immigration law to enhance the free flow of workers.

One would prevent the U.S. from blocking a visa if American workers were available to fill the positions in question.

Another would limit the processing of visa applications to 30 days, in contrast to the U.S. practice of often taking much longer, to properly vet many applications. An expert said the rule would essentially turn the U.S. government into a "rubber stamp" for issuing temporary worker visas.

A third anomaly would eliminate face-to-face interviews, even though that is where the State Department's Consular Office interviewees have the best chance to determine if the person is a criminal or a terrorist, according to the expert.

Finally, TiSA does not specify how many years a guest worker could stay.

Nations participating in TiSA negotiations

Lawmakers and aides with security clearances can look at the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, bill. That is the trade deal that has garnered all the media attention.

But they are still not able to see the draft text of TiSA.

Conservative critics say the King amendment to TPA, although well-intentioned and designed to stop immigration provisions such as those apparently in TiSA, has loopholes Obama could exploit.

They claim:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, deal would obligate the U.S. to defer to an international body that could override U.S. law and the will of Congress.

Obama's definition of "changing immigration law" is not the same as most people's. The president could issue an executive action as part of a trade deal that increased immigration while claiming it never changed the law.