Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act -- Continued

Floor Speech

Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, these trade agreements are big deals.
Trade promotion authority used to mean setting tariffs. Now they can
affect everything from the safety of our food to the working conditions
of people around the world and environmental standards. Very frankly
and simply, that means that Americans should know what the agreements
say and what our government is saying about them, and they should be
given that information while there is a meaningful chance to influence
them.

I hope to influence them through this deliberative process. It is
supposed to be open and transparent. I have two amendments--one that
would promote greater transparency in trade agreements and the second
to help ensure that foreign countries cannot use trade agreements to
undermine the safety and security of America's food supply.

First, on the subject of transparency, nothing is more fundamental
than for the American people to know what is in these trade agreements.
Despite their significance, despite the far-reaching ramifications and
implications they have for our American economy and, indeed, our way of
life, they are being negotiated in secret. In fact, Members of Congress
can view them only if they go to secure locations, and staff of Members
of Congress can see them only if they are accompanied by the Members
themselves. The real problem is not Members of Congress or their staff
but the American public who are kept in the dark. They are the supposed
beneficiaries of these deals, and yet they are kept from knowing what
is in them. The TPA would allow the text of an agreement to be made
public only after it is already finalized--a point that is way too late
for the people most directly and urgently affected by the deals to do
anything but try to get Congress to vote down
the whole thing in its entirety at once. That is not productive. That
is not fair.

More transparency would allow issues over a particular provision to
be resolved individually on their own. This kind of practice is not in
accordance with our democratic condition, an open and transparent
process to set policy--whether it is trade policy or any other issue of
economic and political consequence.

So making the TPA more transparent is a relatively easy fix. My
amendment would do it. This amendment would require the publication of
``formal proposals advanced by the United States in negotiations for a
trade agreement.''

``Formal proposals advanced by the United States in negotiations for
a trade agreement''--that means that the United States, when it takes
an official position and offers it to another country, ought to tell
the American people, its own people--not just the people who are rulers
of another country but our own people. They have a right to know when
this administration or any other offers something to people of another
country, and my amendment would require that basic protection and
transparency.

Very importantly, this amendment would not prohibit confidential
negotiations or closed-door deliberations. Some off-the-record
discussion, no question, is necessary for effective consideration of
any multilateral agreement. And this amendment would not affect
negotiations specifically relating to tariffs and similar market-access
provisions that are the traditional subjects of trade negotiations.

Some negotiations have to be done in confidence--in private--but
basic positions, official proposals, are outside of this realm--
proposals that look more like traditional legislative policymaking,
because they can involve give or take, sacrifices from the American
people, and give and take by other countries. They can align standards
for regulations across a number of areas, from drug development to
finance.

Other countries can be encouraged. They can be empowered to adopt
stronger protections for workers, for clean air and water and more. But
harm can be done if trade agreements undermine American laws and
American protections for health, safety, and security of our citizens.

There are a number of amendments that I have supported that will
directly address labor issues, environmental issues, and security
issues. This amendment would simply ensure that all of these issues are
considered in an open, fair, and transparent way, so the American
people--not just we in this Chamber, not just our negotiators, not just
the President and his advisers--know what is happening.

Publication of formal proposals, which is a term of art in trade
agreements, would bring American transparency practice in line with the
general practices of our European allies. The European Union countries
engaged in the TTIP negotiations announcing that they will post on the
Internet all textual proposals that will be offered to the United
States, as well as position papers, establishing their approach and
analysis. And America should simply do the same. We are a nation that
prides itself on leading the world in transparency, openness, and
democracy. We should not be behind our European allies on that score.

I am very grateful for the support of Senator Brown, a tremendous
leader in this effort to ensure that American trade agreements work for
the American people, as well as Senator Baldwin and Senator Udall. And
I urge other colleagues to support this amendment and the other
amendments that I am offering on food safety.

And I am grateful, again, to have the support of Senator Brown on
this one. It would establish as a principal negotiating objective of
the United States the protection and promotion of strong food safety
laws as well as regulations and inspections. Enforcement is key.
Standards are vital. Ensuring that trade agreements do not weaken or
diminish our food safety standards ought to be a given.

We take for granted all too often that our food is safe until we
discover that it isn't, until we find there are food poisonings and
tragedies that result from unsafe food. We saw it at the beginning of
the last century. Unscrupulous corporations can cut corners by skimping
on food safety or worse, by introducing dangerous additives or
adulterations to foods, making them or processing them under unsafe or
unacceptable conditions. They may save money, but they sacrifice lives
and safety. The consequences in real lives and real time can be
disastrous--not only in lives but in dollars.

The majority of food manufacturers and producers take their safety
responsibilities seriously. The majority in this country certainly do.
But what about abroad? What about in another country? What about in
countries where the standards are nonexistent or not enforced? A
campaign of dedicated advocacy and scientific research led to a system
of food inspection in this country, which is far from perfect but way
ahead of other countries, and it gives Americans the confidence they
need and deserve to walk into any supermarket or restaurant in this
country and feel trust--deserved because it is earned and because the
laws are enforced.

Not all countries, unfortunately, follow these practices. Few
countries have the standards that ours does. Food production is still
under-inspected, spoiled or adulterated in those countries, and that is
the product that we want excluded from this country if they fail to
meet those standards. I am concerned that this trade agreement will
affect our own food safety regulations by introducing those deficient
products--unsafe food--into this country.

My amendment directs negotiators to ensure that imports of that food
do not undermine the trust and confidence of our people in our own food
supply as well as products from abroad. Countries with less stringent
standards in protecting their citizens should not be permitted to use
trade agreements to force this country to imitate them.

Trade is a crucial part of the American economy. It is an essential
part of our Connecticut economy. Trade, when it is done right, is a
great boon to many people and our entire economy. Defense and
aerospace, small manufacturers, furniture and food companies in
Connecticut all thrive because of trade. I want the world to see what
Connecticut businesses have to offer, what our exports can do for them.

I know we can compete with anyone. I know how important exports are
to my State, but I also know trade deals can have negative, unintended
consequences, which is what we want to prevent; consequences in abuses
by foreign governments seeking to subvert or circumvent American
regulations or by giant multinational companies looking to move jobs
and capital to where labor is cheapest and can be exploited easiest or
where health or environmental protections are weakest.

My amendments would help ensure that the American people know what
are in these trade agreements before they are approved, while they are
negotiated, and when our food can be protected and transparency
assured.

I yield the floor.

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