On the recordJune 18, 2015
We had one additional speaker. I don't see her, so I yield myself the balance of my time to close. I started off by saying it is said we should write the rules, not China. That is true. We have been striving to try to help write the rules. We did so for years. We introduced a substitute bill that outlined where we were coming from and where we thought these negotiations should go. That wasn't even given time for discussion. So here is what we are left with. When you vote for TPA under these circumstances, essentially what we are saying to this administration, it is essentially a blank check. They may talk. They may let us see some of the documents, but often in ways we can't discuss them publicly. This is likely to add up to a TPP that will be even more controversial than this TPA. For that reason, I strongly urge that, as was said earlier, we slow down this process in order to try to find a route to a TPP that would have broad bipartisan support. That has always been my aim, rather than this kind of vote with a few handfuls of Democratic votes making this far, far, far from a bipartisan vote. I yield back the balance of my time.
