Brooklyn’s lawmakers in Washington expressed renewed reservations about today’s announcement that the United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific basin nations agreed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest regional trade accord in history.
The other countries in the agreement are Brunei, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam. The issue now moves to Congress for review and debate.
Northern Brooklyn Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez said the agreement is only likely to intensify income inequality and undermine worker and environmental protections.
“Today’s announcement kicks off a 90-day review process and, during that period, I’ll be asking the hard questions about how this agreement would affect New York’s working families,” she said.
Patrick Rheaume, spokesperson for Flatbush Congresswoman Yvette Clarke noted that Clarke opposed the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015 (TAA) in June because if it had passed it would includes, “the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement that would effectively undermine the rights of American workers as well as our intellectual property and environmental protection laws, would have also passed.
“The agreement would contribute to a ‘race to the bottom,’ in which corporations that pay their workers low wages and fail to provide adequate benefits would have the ability to expand exports in the United States, undermining our workers who earn a living wage with fair benefits. In addition, I am concerned that the agreement could require the United States to impose serious criminal penalties for even minor violations of copyright laws – such as a person sharing songs with his or her friends – that under current laws are penalized only by civil damages.
“The agreement also threatens the environment, here in the United States and around the world, by allowing corporations to claim damages from the government for any policy that reduces their profits. Both federal and states laws that prohibit oil drilling or strip mining in protected natural areas could conceivably result in a lawsuit. I voted ‘no’ to all three parts that would create ‘Fast Track.’ Without adequate protections for our workers, our environment, and our existing intellectual property laws, I cannot support this agreement,” Clarke said in June.
Patrick Ryan, spokesperson for Southwest Brooklyn Congressman Dan Donovan, said since the actual contents of the agreement have not been disseminated to Congressional offices yet, Donovan and his team will thoroughly review the agreement before they comment on it.
“As you know, the Congressman voted against providing the President with fast-track authority. The Congressman’s main interest is protecting jobs for Brooklynites and Staten Islanders, and after reviewing the agreement’s framework he had major concerns about the potential for job losses here,” said Ryan.
“Fast-track authority precludes Congress from amending individual sections and instead requires a straight up-and-down vote on the entire package, a procedure the Congressman opposes because it does not allow for changes to the agreement that might better protect American jobs,” he added.
Michael Hardaway, spokesperson for Central Brooklyn Congress Member Hakeem Jeffries said Jeffries has no comment until he has an opportunity to review the agreement.
A spokesperson for Sen. Charles Schumer said the senator is against the agreement and did not comment further.
Congress member Jerry Nadler and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand did not get back to KCP at post time.
