TEMPLATE ALERT LANGUAGE:

Tell Congress: No “Fast Track” for the TPP

Dear Friend:

The pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement threatens to [FILL IN YOUR ISSUE: ie, offshore good-paying jobs, drive down wages in the jobs that are left and reduce the tax revenue for our schools, roads and bridges].

A major reason the TPP is so skewed against our interests is because you and I and millions of other ordinary people have been shut out of the policy-making process from start to finish.

After four-and-a-half years of secretive negotiations, numerous governments are pushing for the TPP negotiations to finally conclude. Knowing that a bad deal is unlikely to survive a democratic approval process, the corporations behind the TPP are now desperately trying to line up a “Fast Track” process that would allow a final pact to circumvent ordinary Congressional review, amendment and debate procedures.

This back-room deal-making has got to stop! Take action now to urge your Members of Congress to oppose “Fast Track” for the TPP.

Literally millions of people throughout the world have already complained about the extreme secrecy of the TPP negotiations. They’ve argued that the public desrves the right to know what is being proposed in our names for a twelve-nation pact that will set rules governing an estimated 40% of the global economy — rules that not only dictate tariff levels, but also energy and environmental policy, medicine patents, financial regulations, “Buy Local” preferences, Internet protocols, food safety, consumer labeling and more.

While the public has been barred from knowing what’s in the TPP, hundreds of corporate lobbyists — representing companies like Walmart, Cargill and Chevron — have had access to the texts. This double-standard has enabled the TPP to be written in corporations’ interests, with little regard for working families, the environment and public health.

Under “Fast Track,” even Congress would give up its constitutional authority to assure that trade agreement provisions are written in the best interests of the constituents they serve.

Together, we absolutely can defeat this outdated, Nixon-era policy-making process. Thanks to massive public opposition earlier this year, a “Fast Track” bill introduced by Representative Dave Camp and former Senator Max Baucus was never even brought to the floor. But the corporations haven’t given up yet, and we can’t afford to either.

Today, TPP proponents are urging Congress to make minor adjustments to the Camp-Baucus “Fast Track” legislation and are getting their ducks in a row for a vote during the Lame Duck session right after the election in November, at the moment when Congressional accountability to constituents is at its lowest.

That’s why we need to act now to get commitments from our elected representatives to oppose “Fast Track” for the TPP.

Many thanks,

[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ORGANIZATION]

TEMPLATE ACTION LANGUAGE:

Please oppose the “Fast Track” trade agreement approval mechanism — no matter what name it is introduced under.

The pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would affect all manner of public policy — from government procurement, to financial regulations, to energy policy, to medicine patents, to food safety, to human rights and more. I expect my elected representatives to demand a full voice in determining these policies, especially given that the public has been barred from informed participation during the formative stages of this massive pact.

Adding better “negotiating objectives” to the same, old Fast Track process is an obvious recipe for failure, as Congress and the public’s ability to ensure those objectives are met would still be seriously curtailed. Such a version of trade authority would not pass my laugh test, and it shouldn’t pass yours.

I am glad that the Camp-Baucus bill introduced earlier this year (HR.3830/S.1900) appears dead — but I’ve heard rumors that there are new attempts to revive parts of that legislation. I look forward to receiving your assurance that you will oppose any bill that contains the Fast Track process for approving trade agreements.