Lincoln Chafee: “Madam President, some have argued that fast-track procedures are either unnecessary or that they are a threat to…”

“Madam President, some have argued that fast-track procedures are either unnecessary or that they are a threat to Congress' constitutional authority, or both. The answer to that is fast track is none of the above. It is both necessary and constitutional. First of all, fast track is absolutely critical if the United States is to continue to expand global market opportunities for American manufacturers and service providers and their workers. Without fast track, no President can assure our trading partners that the terms of a hard-won agreement will not be rewritten by Congress. That is the problem. Now, sometimes it is worthwhile to look at history. In 1934, Congress approved the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, which gave the President authority to lower tariffs with our trading partners. That worked fine for several decades. This was when we still had an emerging global trading system which primarily relied on tariffs.”