Lucas County Commissioners Announce Resolution Urging
Congress to Oppose “Fast Track” Trade Authority
Congresswoman Mary Kaptur Joins Lucas County Commissioners
in Opposition of “Fast Track” of Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trade Agreement
The Board of Lucas County Commissioners held a press
conference this morning to announce a resolution calling
upon members of the U.S. Congress to oppose granting “Fast
Track” authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trade Agreement. The Commissioners were joined by
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Bruce Baumhower, President of
United Auto Workers Local 12 who discussed the status of
this legislation and the potential impact the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Trade Agreement will have on workers and jobs
here in Lucas County.
Lucas County Commissioners Tina Skeldon Wozniak, Pete Gerken,
and Carol Contrada urged Congress to oppose granting the
Office of the United States Trade Representative “Fast
Track” authority to expedite congressional consideration of
the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement (TPP). Trade
Promotion Authority, also known as “Fast Track,” delegates
Congress’ authority to set terms of international commerce
to the Executive Branch. This type of policymaking severely
impedes the democratic process of lawmaking and cuts
legislators out of important legislative procedures. In the
past, “Fast Track” authority has resulted in NAFTA-style
trade deals that have shipped local jobs overseas and closed
manufacturing facilities while giving financial breaks to
multinational corporations.
The Board of Lucas County Commissioners offered this
statement: “There is no room to repeat the mistakes of
so-called “fair trade” deals of the past. It is vital to our
democracy and our economic interests that Congress has the
opportunity to review and amend provisions in proposed trade
deals. We ask Congress to oppose “Fast Track” to ensure our
labor force is protected here at home and support fair trade
that promotes American job growth and environmental
stewardship.”
“We have seen the consequences of Fast Track trade
agreements that have dismantled Northern Ohio industries and
shipped our jobs overseas,” said Congresswoman Kaptur.
“Decades of bad trade policy have outsourced good jobs,
closed manufacturing facilities, hobbled our economy and
abandoned countless working families here and around the
country. This is the legacy of our current U.S. trade
policy. Fast-Tracking another bad deal with another blank
check is irresponsible and will dig us deeper into deficit.
We need a new model for U.S. trade, and we need to
renegotiate the bad trade deals of the past. I proposed
legislation earlier this year called the Balancing Trade Act
of 2015 to do just that. We need to stop selling out
America’s working families and never again Fast-Track
another bad trade deal.? |