You did it!  Together with thousands of other Americans, you convinced a majority of the U.S.  Representatives to vote against the package of bills that would have put the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement on the Fast Track to approval.

The bad news is that the other side isn’t giving up, and they have another chance to try to push through Fast Track this week.

Here’s what happened: the House separated the Fast Track bill passed by the Senate into two parts.  First was a vote on a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program for  workers who lose their jobs due to trade agreements.  Then there was a vote on the Fast Track process itself, called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).  Both parts needed to pass for the bill to pass.  The TPA was approved by a very slim margin, but the TAA was not — killing the bill, at least for a moment.

But after the vote, Speaker Boehner called for a re-vote on TAA, which will happen early this week.  The Obama Administration, the GOP leadership, and large corporations are frantically making deals and lobbying House members to change their vote.  So we must keep the pressure on!

Even if you have called before, please call today or tomorrow and urge your U.S. Representative to vote NO when TAA comes back to the floor.  A job retraining program is not a good reason to rubber-stamp massive trade agreements that will cause those job losses in the first place!  As if that weren’t bad enough, the TAA program excludes public sector workers whose jobs are offshored. It’s not even fully funded, and much of its funding comes from cuts to Medicare.

Call your Representative today at 888-804-8311 and urge him or her to vote NO on the TAA and Fast Track this week.

Fast Track would allow dangerous trade agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be rushed through Congress, circumventing ordinary review, amendment and debate procedures.  It is a virtual rubber-stamp for trade deals that threaten our economy, our environment, and our sovereignty.

Like all past trade deals, the TPP would send American jobs overseas where it can be done more cheaply.  It’s even worse than previous agreements because it also includes a key provision that would allow foreign companies to sue the U.S. over laws that they claim would hurt their profits – like Buy Local preferences or labeling GMOs.  Federal, state and local laws could be struck down by international courts in the name of corporate profits!

With the Fast Track bill, Congress is being asked to green light a trade deal that the public hasn’t even been allowed to read.

Please help us protect our economy and our sovereignty!  Call your Representative today at 888-804-8311 and urge him or her to vote NO on the TAA and Fast Track.

If you prefer to send email, you can also look up who represents you and find a link to their website here

Sample Message for Calls or Emails

My name is ___ and I am a constituent. I am calling to urge my Representative to vote NO on both the TAA and Fast Track.  We need to protect American jobs, not settle for a job retraining program.  Fast tracking trade agreements will harm American workers and consumers, and undermine our sovereignty.

MORE INFORMATION

For a more in-depth explanation of the Congressional maneuverings on Fast Track, check out this Huffington Post article

You can see how your Representative voted on Fast Track (the TPA) last Friday here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2015/roll362.xml

You can see how your Representative voted on Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) last Friday here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2015/roll361.xml

If your Representative voted no on these bills, be sure to thank him or her!!