Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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[2]
The letter details a timeline spanning from the day the report was filed to the day
the Senate passed the fast track legislation, during which the USTR and the DOL
apparently tried to drown the report in bureaucratic procedure and government
ineptitude. According to Trumka, the report intended to serve as a reading guide
to senators and members of Congress to highlight the numerous places in which
the TPP fails to adopt recommended working-family friendly provisions as well
as to persuade the USTR to adopt the LACs recommendations into the trade
agreement.
The DOL explained on May 7three weeks after the initial filing of the Interim
Reportthat it could not be accepted as an LAC document because it hadnt been
created in a way compliant with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA),
which mandates that a document must be discussed at a LAC meeting. The USTR
and DOL said that because of this, they couldnt share the report with Members of
Congress who requested it. However, a letter and annex dated September 3, 2014,
which made up 11 pages of the report, were discussed at an LAC meeting, and the
LAC members asked whether these could be released to Congress.
As of May 22, they [AFL-CIO?] knew the following:
First, the first five pages of the Interim Report could be released publicly only if
edited and redacted as follows:
Second, the USTR and DOL failed to review the remaining 11 pages (the letter
and annex). The content of those pages therefore had to be blacked out.
Third, the USTR and DOL did not provide an answer regarding whether any of the
report will be released to Congress
The less-redacted five pages of the report outline a lack of transparency from the
USTR and Obama Administration regarding the TPP; restrictive and silencing
regulations; an unwillingness to hear the LACs advice, requests and demands; and
serious concerns about the trade agreement.
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Despite being cleared advisors, the members of the LAC maintain that they are
given outdated informationif anyon which to base their oft-ignored
recommendations. The most recent version of the labor chapter of the TPP
available to all cleared advisors was posted on their secure website on December
15, 2011.
As well, cleared advisors are prevented from disclosing any specific information
[WHO IS PREVENTING THEM FROM TALKING?] about the deal to the public,
meaning that their criticisms can only come off as vague and are unable to combat
the Obama Administrations unsupported promises. However, this undemocratic
neutering of critics is not the only reason to oppose these clandestine practices. In
his speech, Trumka simply pointed out that decisions affecting the livelihoods of
millions of Americans shouldnt be made in secret.
By keeping the public and the publics representatives from members of
Congress to union presidents in the dark about the TPP, the Obama
Administration [MAYBE CONTRAST TRUMKAS STATEMENTS WITH
CLAIMS FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ABOUT THE TPP?] is
secretly creating a deal that appears to only benefits corporate interests. Among
other things, the agreement will allow foreign corporations to sue governments for
regulations that impinge on their profit margin, in the same way that Philip Morris
International is suing Uruguay for tightening its smoking laws.