Trans Pacific Partnership Protest Interrupts Nancy Pelosi Event

Trans Pacific Partnership protesters caused a bit of a disturbance at a gathering hosted by Nancy Pelosi. The House Minority Leader initiated the event in order to commemorate the first ever White House “Status of Women” report. A group comprised primarily of college student activists urged Pelosi to vote against the trade deal which some are calling a “NAFTA on steroids” move.

The potential deal between the United States and Pacific Rim nations has been so closely guarded that Congress has reportedly been able to garner only a few details about the agreement.The free trade deal negotiations memos recently leaked to the media have swanned alarm among economists, labor unions, and environmental groups. The TPP involves 12 different nations and could give “radical new political powers” to international corporations, restrict banking regulations, and drive up the cost of prescription medicines, if predictions by opponents are accurate.

The Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TPIP) and the Trans Pacific Partnership would allegedly force the United States to “harmonize” food safety standards. Americans who are concerned that the USDA, FDA, and EPA agencies are not protecting the safety and integrity of our food supply and too eager to allow GMO production to move forward unchecked, and counted among those deeply concerned about the emerging partnership.

All of the countries which sign onto the trade agreement would have their food safety standards respected when exporting products. The Obama administration is reportedly using the Fast Track procedure to reroute the process around Congress and removing the possibility of the addition of amendments to the trade agreement. Fast Track was a process created during the the Nixon administration. The process essentially negates the powers of Congress.

Congress has reportedly been left out of the process and the governing body is not involved in the negotiations between the Obama administration and Trans Pacific Partnership group nations. Leaked TPP memos published by the Huffington Post indicate that the Obama administration has deemed the talks among the trade treaty partners classified and banned Congress from sharing the country’s negotiating stance with either the press corps members of the public. If the details in the memo are accurate, Congressional staffers have not been permitted to view the TPP documents either.

The US Chamber of Commerce and a host of American corporations support the Trans Pacific Partnership. One of the most hotly contested portions of the Trans Pacific Partnership plan involves the “corporate empowerment” portion of the document text. The insertion of such language was allegedly added upon the insistence of the Obama administration. This portion of the agreement would reportedly give international companies the authority to challenge American laws and related regulations in a privately run foreign court.

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Trans Pacific Partnership Protest Interrupts Nancy Pelosi Event