On the recordMay 22, 2015
Mr. President, together with Senator Heitkamp, Senator Manchin, and a dozen other Senators, I propose a simple change to the fast-track bill. This amendment protects America's sovereignty and the rule of law by turning off fast-track for trade agreements that include investor-state dispute resolution--ISDS. This is not a partisan issue. Experts on the left and the right agree that ISDS is a real threat. According to the director of trade policy at the Cato Institute, purging both the TPP and the TTIP of ISDS makes sense economically and politically. In a recent letter, more than 100 law professors wrote that ISDS threatens domestic sovereignty and weakens the rule of law. A provision to give corporations special rights to challenge our laws outside of our legal system should not be part of our free-trade agreements. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield to Senator Heitkamp.
