[x-pubpol] Congressman gets a look at secret Trans-Pacific Partnership draft: "This agreement hands the sovereignty of our country over to corporate interests"

[Joly MacFie]

http://boingboing.net/2013/06/20/congressman-gets-a-look-at-sec.html

Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL) is the first Congresscritter to get a look at the
text of the super-secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership, currently being
negotiated by Obama's US Trade Representative (the Obama administration,
like the Bush admin before it, claims that the President has the authority
to negotiate and enter into trade agreements without Congress's approval).
The TPP has been controversial, as several leaked drafts and discussion
documents have shown that the entertainment industry has used it as a
vehicle for attempting to win brutal Internet and PC rules, including
hard-drive searches at the border, surveillance and censorship powers, and
more.

Grayson was dismayed by what he saw in the current draft of the bill, and
has affirmed Senator Warren's
remark<http://boingboing.net/2013/06/13/sen-warren-to-us-trade-rep-re.html>
that
"If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade
agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United
States."

The TPP is nicknamed “NAFTA on steroids.” Now that I’ve read it, I can see
why. I can’t tell you what’s in the agreement, because the U.S. Trade
Representative calls it classified. But I can tell you two things about it.

1) There is no national security purpose in keeping this text secret.

2) This agreement hands the sovereignty of our country over to corporate
interests.

3) What they can’t afford to tell the American public is that [the rest of
this sentence is classified].

(Well, I did promise to tell you only two things about it.)

I will be fighting this agreement with everything I’ve got. And I know
you’ll be there every step of the way.

For now, I’ve set up an e-mail address where you can ask me questions on
this topic or other topics: askalan at graysonforcongress.com


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