We Need to Stop the White House From Putting TPP and TTIP on the Fast Track To Ratification
Fast Track Politics on the Hill
The White House and several Congress members are going to introduce a fast track bill in the coming weeks. Republicans seem to be more in favor of fast track than their Democratic counterparts, which means Republican control of both congressional chambers could mean the bill could sail straight through to approval. But there's also criticism among some lawmakers and a large coalition of lawmakers who are committed to fight it. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders have been vocally opposed to handing away such blanket powers to the Executive branch. And on the House side, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and other representatives organized a press event last week to announce their opposition to fast track. But while there is a movement to stop TPP and TTIP from being put on the fast track, it's still going to be a close vote. We can't risk the possibility that these deals could pass and bind our lawmakers to enact or maintain new draconian copyright rules. Lawmakers need to hear that users are vehemently opposed to Internet regulations being decided in secret trade negotiations.
How We Can Stop Fast Track
Sen. Ron Wyden now sits as the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, where he holds significant influence on how this version of fast track will look. His colleague, Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Orrin Hatch, introduced the bill that was defeated last year. Sen. Hatch is determined to pass a new version with superficial fixes that do nothing to address the secrecy or the private-industry-dominated process. That's why we have a petition directed at Sen. Wyden, calling on him to resist these weak compromises and reject any version of this bill that does not truly address these problems. As a long-time defender of digital rights and an outspoken critic of TPP's secrecy, we need to let him know that we're counting on him to stand up for Internet users at this critical time.
If and when the bill is on the floor, our next step is to pressure Congress members to oppose it and encourage their colleagues to vote against fast track. Many lawmakers may support the policy in order to not appear to oppose free trade, but these new omnibus trade agreements are about much more than that. They contain provisions that will have huge implications for our digital rights in the generations to come. That's why we'll need to bombard them with messages letting them know about these threats, and to call on them to defend users against secret deals.
Last year, a massive coalition of civil society organizations and individuals banded together to fight back against this undemocratic process and we defeated it. We can do it again this year, but we're going to need all the help we can get.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/we-need-stop-white-house-putting-tpp-and-ttip-fast-track-ratification
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