For immediate release:
June 23, 2015
Washington, DC – Today, the US Senate passed a procedural motion on a Fast Track bill that limits Congressional authority and oversight over international trade deals like the massive Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Statement from CIEL President & CEO Carroll Muffett:
Today’s vote on Fast Track represents a historic compromise by President Obama and a slim majority in Congress. It compromises the climate. It compromises the environment. It compromises the livelihoods of workers. And it compromises the rights of ordinary American citizens in favor of ever-greater rights for transnational corporations.
That our leaders cannot find common ground to address the profound environmental threats and social inequities that confront us is a tragedy. That they came together to compound those threats in the name of free trade is a travesty.
When TPP and TTIP are finally exposed to the light, millions of Americans from all walks of life will remember the compromises our leaders made today. And they will respond accordingly.