Salt of the Earth: Fast Track

In session
February 2002

Bill signed to 'close the gap' in education
Senate reviews "Fast Track" authority on trade treaty
White House seeks to restore food stamps to legal immigrants

Senate reviews "Fast Track" authority on trade treaty
The trade promotion authority (TPA) bill that narrowly passed the House in a 215-214 vote in December now moves on to the Senate. Twenty-one Democrats and 194 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick called "a vote for American leadership, American workers, and American families."

TPA would give the President authority to negotiate trade agreements under consultation with congressional committees. Congress would be subject to time limits on debate and could not make any amendments when enacting the trade legislation. Such authority was granted to the president from 1974 until 1994.

The Congressional Research Service's Report to Congress lists probable legislation as a result of TPA to include bilateral free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile and a Free Trade of the Americas Act by 2005. Thirty-four countries have entered into discussions on FTAA.

The bill is expected to receive bipartisan support in the Senate, as Majority Leader Tom Daschle has indicated he will support the measure. However, he also indicated in his opening speech of the 2nd session of the 107th Congress that he will attach another bill to the trade promotion legislation that will "expand trade adjustment assistance, including assistance for farmers who are displaced by global trade." In other words, Americans who lose their jobs as a result of opening trade borders will be eligible for federal assistance, including continued access to health insurance.

Regardless of a trade adjustment assistance attachment, many groups are concerned about the implications of TPA itself. One such group is the Center of Concern (COC) in Washington, D.C., who says the legislation is "undemocratic" because it removes Congress' power to shape trade policy and gives the President too much influence. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) echoed this sentiment on the Senate floor, saying, "One might better interpret the acronym TPA as standing for 'tactic to prevent amendments.'"

COC states its case a little more diplomatically. Says spokesperson Maria Riley, "The trade minister gets to negotiate trade in whatever fashion he sees fit, eliminating discussion among the stakeholders—the voters, the workers, those with environmental concerns, those with concerns about the different impact trade can have on different genders. There is no forum for these questions to be raised."

Riley also says that an attachment of trade adjustment assistance "does not solve the fundamental problem of TPA—democracy deficit."

White House press releases laud the bill as the key to economic recovery, providing a boost to industries through open international trade, but a COC statement disagrees. Citing United Nations and World Bank statistics, it says, "Free markets have not increased prosperity across the board. The gap between rich and poor is widening and ownership of assets is in the hands of the few."—Tara Dix

For more information:
Full text of Byrd's speech
Center of Concern
Government website
AFL-CIO statement
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

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