TPP

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, this week, trade ministers from 12 TPP countries are gathering on Maui in my district in what is expected to be the final negotiations of a massive trade agreement impacting 40 percent of the world's economy.

Not only were the American people shut out of this trade deal when Congress passed fast-track authority legislation, these negotiations continue, as we speak, in a shroud of secrecy, with the American people reliant on sites like WikiLeaks as they seek information about how this agreement will impact us.

The people of Hawaii and all Americans are rightfully concerned about how this trade deal will impact our jobs, our families, our economy, our environment, and our Nation's sovereignty.

We, the American people, deserve to know what is in this deal and to have a say in what happens. How can a genuine public debate occur on a deal as monumental as this when no one knows what is in it? It is hard to imagine a deal more demanding of transparency.

People from Hawaii and around the world are gathering tomorrow on Maui to protest this secret deal. They are sick and tired of multinational corporations benefiting on the broken backs of working class Americans, and they will not stop until their voices are heard.

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