PRESS RELEASE
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions Reveals Contents of TPP, Defying Threats of Prosecution
May 20, 2015 (EIRNS)—As reported by Kevin Zeese on May 18 in truthout.org, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) has taken a bold step: not only has he read the contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—unlike most other Republican legislators—but he has also written a "Critical Alert" to members of Congress, dated May 17, revealing what he read.
In doing so, Sen. Sessions defies threats made by Barack Obama that any elected official who reveals what he has read, will suffer criminal prosecution. In five pages, he presents a point-by-point explanation of what he read, highlighting what he sees as the major threats by both the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA or fast-track) and TPP, to jobs and living standards of American workers, emasculation of Congressional authority, "consolidation of power in the Executive branch," and "ceding sovereign authority to international powers."
Sessions points to the dangers in fast-track authority (TPA), which would make it impossible for Congress to offer amendments or engage in the "committee review process that both ensure member participation."
Moreover, he adds, while the President "is required to submit a report to Congress on the terms of a trade agreement at least 60 days before submitting implementing legislation," he can classify or otherwise redact information from this report, "limiting its value to Congress." National sovereignty is at stake, he adds, pointing out that the "living agreement" embedded in the TPP, means that other countries, as well as the President, could change the agreement, "without Congressional approval whatsoever." The President can change any other agreement terms, or accept new member nations, also without Congressional approval. "Does this not represent an abdication of Congressional authority?" Sessions asks.
While Sessions’ document contains conceptual flaws, and fails to consider that the context for the TPP is the collapse of the trans-Atlantic financial system, and Obama’s obsession with smashing China, his letter, and subsequent remarks on the Senate floor yesterday and today, are likely to have rattled the Administration and its hangers-on, as they try to ram through fast track and the TPP.
