US News: Should Congress Give the President 'Fast-Track' Trade Promotion Authority?

http://www.usnews.com/debate-club

Last week, Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., released a bill that would grant President Barack Obama what is known as "fast-track" trade authority. Such authority would give the president the ability to negotiate trade deals, including the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, and submit them to Congress without the legislative body having the ability to alter them via amendments (though lawmakers could still derail a deal if it doesn't meet certain predetermined criteria). “The current situation is not working for us,” said Obama, who also said that opposing the the Pacific trade pact means “ratification of the status quo, where a lot of folks are selling here, but we’re not selling there.”

Proponents argue that fast-track authority is necessary for the president to negotiate in good faith with other nations, as it removes the specter of Congress altering a deal. Fast-track authority "sends a strong signal to our trading partners that Congress and the administration speak with one voice to the rest of the world on our priorities,” said Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in Congressional testimony. Added Hatch, "Our nation has been without [fast-track authority] since 2007. So, while other nations have moved forward and created trade agreements to benefit their workers, the United States has fallen behind."

But skeptics abound. “The single biggest economic issue facing American families is that jobs do not pay enough to live on,” said Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro. “Fast tracking the TPP would make it easier for corporations to offshore Americans jobs and force our workers to compete with those in Vietnam making less than 60 cents an hour.” Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey added, “Over and over again we’ve been told that trade deals will create jobs and better protect workers and the environment. ... Those promises have never come to fruition. Now some in the Senate are ready to dive into another mistaken trade deal.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is also opposed to fast-tracking, as is Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, setting up what Politico has dubbed a Democratic "civil war over free trade."

So should Congress give the president fast-track trade authority? Here is the Debate Club's take:

The Arguments @ link.