[x-pubpol] Senator Wyden Demands Access to Text of Secret International Agreements Regulating the Internet

[Joly MacFie]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/senator-wyden-defends-users-rights

Senator Ron Wyden yesterday introduced a bill on the floor of the U.S.
Senate demanding access to draft texts of international trade agreements
under negotiation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative
such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) that carry provisions
that could severely choke off users' rights on the Internet around the
world. This is a great positive step in the right direction.

The proposed bill, titled the "Congressional Oversight Over Trade
Negotiations Act"<http://www.scribd.com/doc/94584236/Wyden-Statement-Introduction-of-Congressional-Oversight-Over-Trade-Negotiations-Act>,
calls for all Members of Congress, together with all of their staff with
proper security clearance, to be given access to "documents, including
classified materials, relating to negotiations for a trade agreement to
which the United States may be a party and policies advanced by the Trade
Representative in such negotiations."

Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power
to regulate foreign commerce in order to ensure that such laws and policies
take into consideration all the interests of the people rather than those
of the select few. Congress has delegated certain powers to the Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), but remains subject to Congressional
oversight. The USTR is required to consult wth the Senate Finance Committee
and the House Ways and Means Committee, and is supposed to regularly
consult with the House and Senate Leadership Offices. In addition, under
amendments to the Trade Act enacted by Congress in 2002, the USTR is
required to consult with members of the Congressional Oversight Group.

Senator Wyden is a member of the Senate Finance Committee (which has
jurisdiction <http://www.finance.senate.gov/about/jurisdiction/> over
"reciprocal trade agreements; tariff and import quotas, and related matters
thereto") and is Chair of its subcommittee on International Trade, Customs
and Global Competitiveness. And yet, as he explains, neither he nor his
staff which have obtained proper security clearance, have been able to get
access to material related to the negotiations of the TPP from the USTR.
This is something that he also raised with the U.S. Trade Ambassador
at a Senate
hearing <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IIsK5zPQYw> on 7 March. The USTR
has apparently read the 2002 legislation as *narrowing* the requirement for
the USTR to consult with Members of Congress, contrary to what Senator
Wyden and others had intended at the time it was enacted. Meanwhile, the
USTR is continuing to consult on TPP negotiating texts with representatives
of large entertainment companies, and the pharmaceutical industry on the
private sector Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual
Property<http://www.ita.doc.gov/itac/committees/itac15.asp>.
Senator Wyden introduced yesterday's bill to rectify this situation.

In his remarks introducing yesterday's bill, Senator Wyden states:

*Put simply, this legislation would ensure that the representatives elected
by the American people are afforded the same level of influence over our
nation’s policies as the paid representatives of PhRMA, Halliburton and the
Motion Picture Association.*

Senator Wyden has nailed it. The USTR has continued to exclude our
Congressional representatatives, civil society and public interest groups
from learning about the policy issues that are being discussed in these
negotiations, while welcoming private sector industry groups' inputs on
negotiation texts with open arms.

The leaked U.S. TPP Intellectual Property
chapter<http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/tpp-10feb2011-us-text-ipr-chapter.pdf>
has
provisions that will directly impact the future of the open Internet. This
is a vital issue that *all* of us should have a say in, not just
representatives from a few selective parts of the economy. Sound and
balanced policy-making requires transparency and meaningful input from all
affected Internet stakeholders.

Through our action alert, concerned citizens have sent over 20,000 emails
to our Congressional representatives since February, calling on Congress to
demand transparency in these negotiations. That demonstrates that there is
very substantial interest from constitutents in understanding how what the
USTR is negotiating will affect our digital rights and the open Internet.
However, this battle is not close to being over.

Help us keep the pressure on Congress and let them know we'd like to see
them defend Internet freedom against the powerful trans-national industries
that are currently unilaterally shaping these secret international trade
agreements.

 <https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8229>

Click here<https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8229>
to
take action. Tell Congress that you refuse any more backroom deals to
regulate the Internet.

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Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
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 VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
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