DCCC chairman: Obama should not rush TPP in Singapore

DCCC chairman: Obama should not rush TPP in Singapore

12/5/13 12:23 PM EST
The head of the House

Democrats’ campaign arm says he is “very concerned”

about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact that

President Barack Obama’s administration is working to

finalize this month.

Democratic Congressional Campaign

Committee Chairman Steve Israel said Congress knows too

little about the 12-country pan-Pacific deal and needs a

stronger oversight role in its negotiation and

enforcement.

“The only way you’re going to get free

and fair trade is if Congress is able to assert oversight

and review a trade agreement,” the New York congressman

said on a conference call hosted by the Sierra Club.

“There’s got to be checks and balances, and I’m very

concerned that TPP does not currently include those checks

and balances.”

The Obama administration should not rush

to finalize a deal during talks that kick off in Singapore

this weekend, even though a conclusion there is likely the

administration’s only chance to meet Obama’s goal of

concluding the pact this year, Israel said.

“A good deal

is more important than a final deal, and the only deal that

I can support is one that has verifiable standards that

Congress can oversee and monitor,” he said.

Further,

Israel said that when Congress considers a bill to allow

Obama to “fast-track” trade deals for up-or-down votes,

with limited debate and no amendments, that measure should

provide “a robust role for Congress on the front end of an

agreement.”

“20th Century ‘fast-track’ just does

not work for a 21st Century agreement,” Israel

said.

ends

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DCCC chairman: Obama should not rush TPP in Singapore