{"id":5094,"date":"2014-09-11T14:13:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T18:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2014-09-14T11:21:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T15:21:56","slug":"smart-track-cant-fast-track-disguise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/blog\/2014\/09\/11\/smart-track-cant-fast-track-disguise\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Track Can&#8217;t Be Fast Track in Disguise"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FastTrackinDisguise.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5092\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FastTrackinDisguise-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"FastTrackinDisguise\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FastTrackinDisguise-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FastTrackinDisguise.jpg 679w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Nearly 600 organizations, together representing millions of Americans, have sent\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/WydenFastTrackLtr_0914.pdf\">a joint letter to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(D-OR) expressing their steadfast opposition to Fast Track and outlining the minimum requirements for a new, democratic and accountable trade policy-making process.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Earlier this year, Senator Wyden announced he is working on new &#8220;Smart Track&#8221; legislation to replace the expired Fast Track process that allows harmful trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be rushed through Congress circumventing ordinary review, amendment and debate procedures.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The sign-on letter promoted by CTC members such as the Sierra Club, Communications Workers of America, the Teamsters and Public Citizen, among others both inside and outside CTC, urges that Fast Track be eliminated and replaced with a new model of trade authority that includes transparency in trade negotiations, a Congressional role in selecting trade partners, a clear set of negotiating mandates and Congressional certification that mandates have been met before negotiations can conclude.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cFast track is the wrong track for Americans who care about the health of our families and access to clean air, clean water, and land,\u201d said\u00a0<b>Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club<\/b>. \u201cWe need a new model of trade &#8212; one that protects communities and the environment while keeping the public engaged in the policy-making process.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe need 21st-century trade authority that allows Congress to do its job and represent the interests of U.S. workers, consumers and communities. By any name, the flawed \u2018fast track\u2019 approach still would enable negotiators to bypass Congress and put in place new and binding agreements that have real consequences for all of us,\u201d said\u00a0<b>Larry Cohen, president of the Communication Workers of America<\/b>. \u201cA new model of trade authority is the only way to ensure that workers and communities have a voice in these trade decisions. We want to determine what kind of economy we have, not simply accept super-power status for multinational corporations and a snails\u2019 pace for the enforcement issues raised by the rest of us.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">The September 2014 letter follows petitions delivered on behalf of more than 5,000 Oregonians by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, SumofUs and others to Senator Wyden&#8217;s offices in Portland, Eugene and Medford\u00a0earlier in the month. \u00a0The Oregon petitions insisted\u00a0that &#8220;Smart Track&#8221; not become Fast Track in disguise. \u00a0To drive home the message, activists delivering them wore Groucho Marx-style glasses.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">Senator Wyden hasn&#8217;t publicly announced many details about his new &#8220;Smart Track&#8221; bill yet. \u00a0The positive things he has said thus far include wanting to introduce greater transparency to the negotiating process and wanting to include stronger negotiating objectives. \u00a0While both of these are critical elements of any true overhaul of the Fast Track system, they alone won&#8217;t be worth the paper they&#8217;re written on if the old, Nixon-era Fast Track approval process is allowed to continue \u2014 a point the new letter makes clearly. \u00a0&#8220;While it is important that Congress develop negotiating mandates that outline what all U.S. trade agreements must and must not include &#8230; even more important is the replacement of the outdated and failed Fast Track\u00a0<i>procedures,<\/i>&#8221; the letter states.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThere is no \u2018acceptable\u2019 version of fast track,\u201d said\u00a0<b>Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen<\/b>. \u201cFast-track must be replaced so Congress can steer international trade in a new direction and create agreements that actually work for most Americans.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000;\">You can urge your Members of Congress to oppose Fast Track by taking action\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/org.salsalabs.com\/o\/1034\/p\/dia\/action3\/common\/public\/?action_KEY=14754\">online here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 600 organizations, together representing millions of Americans, have sent\u00a0a joint letter to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden\u00a0(D-OR) expressing their steadfast opposition to Fast Track and outlining the minimum requirements [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[84,83],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - 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