Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) is needed to be passed before a vote on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Pacific Rim trade deal can be taken up. It is disconcerting to me and to many of our citizens that we once again have politicians willing to vote for passage without reading the bill.
Reps. Steve Scalise and Pete Sessions have both said they would vote “yes” without reading the bill. They say that TPA is needed for overseeing trade deals and that Congress would have 90 days to fully view the agreement. It is transparent, and gives any Congressional member a chance to review and discuss the text at any time in the future.
The Republican majority needs to read the TPA to assure themselves that what it says is available to Congress is written into the bill and not subject to interpretation.
Then there is the TPP, which as of now is still secret, locked in a basement somewhere and to read it requires security more draconian than trying to get into a prison in Iran.