Retirement Security
April 03, 2016
2/3 of the New York State Congressional Delegation reject the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade bill
Trans Pacific Partnership progress in New York State
On March 23, 2016, nineteen (19) members of Congress from New York State, in a bi- partisan action, sent a letter to President Obama stating the reasons that they would vote against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) if it ever came to the floor of congress. In this letter the lawmakers wrote “We are united in our opposition to the agreement and in our belief that the TPP will harm many working and middle class families in New York and across the country.” The lawmakers also pointed out “since NAFTA and the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements took effect in 1994, our state has lost more than 370,000 manufacturing jobs.”
Legislators that signed on to this letter were:
Congressmen/women Collins (R), Slaughter (D), Clarke (D), Donovan Jr. (R), Engel (D), Gibson (R), Higgins (D), Jeffries (D), Katko (R), Lowey (D), Carolyn Maloney (D), Sean Patrick Maloney (D), Meng (D), Nadler (D), Reed (R), Serrano (D), Tonko (D), Vellazguez (D) and Zeldin (R).
Eight (8) Legislators that have not taken a position or have taken a position in favor of the TPP are:
Congressmen/women Crowley (D) New York City, Hanna (R) Southern Tier, Israel (D) Long Island, King (D) Long Island, Meeks (D) NYC, Rangel (D), NYC, Rice (D) Long Island, Stefanik (R), North Country.
NYSARA President Barry Kaufmann reached out and sent a thank you letter to each of the 19 Congressional representatives for their support of our anti TPP position. Congressman Donovan (R) Staten Island’s office reached out to NYSARA to thank us for our effort and assure us he stood firmly with us on this issue.
Our two Senators (Schumer and Gillibrand) signed on to a letter saying that ‘We request that the Administration withhold the submission of implementing legislation for the TPP unless and until Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei implement the legal reforms stipulated in the respective consistency plans and demonstrate a consistent track record of enforcing these new laws,” the senators wrote. “Our concern is based on the current poor condition of labor standards in these countries, the uncertainty surrounding the capacity and willingness of these governments to implement the required reforms, and questions about how the Administration and Congress will assess whether these countries’ have met their commitments.”
The TPP is a bad deal for seniors and working men and women. It stands to raise drug prices and give unfair advantages to corporations through its ISDS dispute resolution policy. It threatens to roll back environmental laws and drug price negotiation programs existing at the VA, under the affordable care act and in public programs for the poor.