Max Baucus: “I might go further and say, not only is there no need for the Kerry amendment but it would create huge problems for…”

“I might go further and say, not only is there no need for the Kerry amendment but it would create huge problems for Americans in America and problems for Americans overseas. Whether they are intended or unintended consequences, I am not sure, but those consequences are real. I must repeat, the underlying bill was changed in the Chamber to include language suggested by the Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Kerry, that solves all the problems he has now been talking about. What are they? Essentially if you listened closely to the cases he has been talking about, the concern is that a foreign investor might have superior rights compared to a domestic investor. The language we adopted says clearly that foreign investors have no greater rights than a domestic investor. That is the language in the underlying bill. We are talking about trade promotion authority. We are talking about fast track. We are talking about negotiating objectives. We are talking about what we would like our executive branch trade negotiators to work toward, the guidelines under which we are giving them to work. One of the guidelines in the current bill is that foreign investors would have no greater rights than domestic investors in investor-state dispute settlements. That is clear. All the problems the Senator from Massachusetts talked about are already taken care of.”