Time-sensitive episode! Congress is rushing to pass a bill that would grant the President Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which hands Congress' power to negotiate international treaties to the Executive Branch. In this episode, we look at the details of the Trade Promotion Authority bill. Is giving the Executive Branch this power a good idea? Please Contact Your Representative in the House www.house.gov Please Contact Your Two Senators www.senate.gov Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) or Fast Track H.R. 1890: "Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015" S. 995: "Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015" The following links are to the text of H.R. 1890, as introduced in the the House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate, as of April 26, has not sent the text of their version to the Government Publishing Office to be released to the public. [caption id="attachment_1743" align="aligncenter" width="968"] Despite having been introduced on April 16 and passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on April 22, the text of Trade Promotion Authority had still not been submitted for public publishing on April 26[/caption] Section 2: Negotiating Objectives Elimination of trade laws that keep multinational corporations out of foreign countries Expand the Investor State Dispute System Allow multinational corporations access to the world's resources Get other countries to change their laws Eliminate taxes that companies have to pay to sell their products in other countries (tariffs) Remove regulations that prevent businesses from operating in other countries Agriculture Prevent countries from refusing foreign food for safety reasons unless an approved international scientific organization says the concerns are legit. Force countries to eliminate subsidies for their own industries Eliminate government owned industries Prohibit labeling requirements for food that "affect" biotechnology (for example, genetically modified foods) and making labeling requirements eligible for lawsuits in the Investor State Dispute System Prohibits restrictions "not based on scientific principles" Foreign Investment Eliminate exceptions for when a foreign corporation is treated the same as a domestic corporation Allow money to be transferred into and out of the country Eliminate performance requirements for opening and operating a business in a foreign country Create laws that force governments to pay companies for law that reclaim their land from corporations Create an appeal process for the Investor State Dispute System Ensure that Investor State Dispute System rulings are made public, that hearings are open to the public, and that businesses, unions, and NGO's have a way to make their opinions heard in Investor State Dispute System cases, even if those businesses, unions and NGOs are not a part of the case. Intellectual Property Make sure that companies have the legal and technological means to prevent unauthorized use of their copyrighted material over the Internet Enforcement must include civil, administrative, and criminal mechanisms Prohibit laws that require local storage or processing of digital data Prohibit taxes on electronic transfers Regulatory Practices Require regulations be "based on sound science, cost benefit analysis, or risk assessment" Have countries match their laws Eliminate price controls Government-Owned Industries Eliminate government owned industries that compete with private companies Localization Eliminate and prevent laws that require multinational corporations to operate facilities o