Janice Schakowsky: “The administration seems to think the Democrats and the coalition that is opposing the TPP would reject any trade deal.…”

“The administration seems to think the Democrats and the coalition that is opposing the TPP would reject any trade deal. We are called protectionists. We are called unreasonable. But that is not true. Rather than these fancy parliamentary manipulations, we should take the time now to fix it. Some of the most odious positions that we know that are in the TPP which this fast track will speed us to are U.S. negotiating positions. Our trading partners are not clamoring for the extrajudicial investor dispute resolution authority, allowing huge corporations to challenge their hard-fought consumer protections, worker and environmental laws, et cetera. These are our negotiating positions. We could drop them and that would be welcomed abroad among our trading partners. Countries want the opportunity and the right to protect their food supplies--and that includes us. Decrease smoking; promote Buy America; increase the minimum wage; control the cost of drugs; protect our environment. We could reset the balance of the intellectual property rights and access to lifesaving, affordable medicines by rewriting the pharmaceutical chapter, which I did look at. More than a trade bill, this establishes a new regulatory regime that favors the wealthiest and the most powerful corporations. We could change that. These votes we are taking today are not the end of the track. It is beginning the track to a new negotiation.…”