Matthew Russell: “Congress has a chance this week to turn the President's ``Pivot to Asia'' into a ``Pivot to America.'' The question is…”

“Congress has a chance this week to turn the President's ``Pivot to Asia'' into a ``Pivot to America.'' The question is: Will we as Members listen to the people, or will we double down on a watered-down policy that has divided both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle? We often complain about lack of bipartisanship, but in this case, we are seeing it stop the trade promotion authority, or TPA, fast track. We must hold firm. Republicans and Democrats have a long history of being for free trade. We all want our goods to go to international markets and for trade barriers to be removed. We find ourselves at a crossroads today because both parties have voiced a lack of trust in the President's ability to be able to negotiate what is best for America. That is why we are still fighting to stop the trade promotion authority, better known as fast track. Fast track will not be the panacea of all ills. In fact, if granted, we could see the President move swiftly on the Trans-Pacific Partnership that will likely not deliver the goods, potentially binding our Nation to an agreement that could circumvent U.S. interests and law and have secondary harmful effects in multiple areas. Dr. Aurolyn Luykx, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, makes this analysis: I think the consequences could be very dire. We already saw under NAFTA how so many jobs left the United States and also went from Mexico.…”