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Schakowsky Statement on passage of stand-alone ‘Fast Track' legislation

June 18, 2015

Washington, DC – Rep. Jan Schakowsky issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed a stand-alone Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill:

“I am disappointed that the House of Representatives passed a stand-alone ‘Fast Track’ bill this afternoon. If the Senate passes a similar stand-alone measure, TPA will be used to rush through the highly-flawed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

I was proud to join with my colleagues who voted against ‘Fast Track”, a measure made even worse over the last week. I will continue to work closely with labor, consumer, senior, environmental and faith-based constituencies to see what else can be done to promote responsible trade policies. We need fair trade agreements that benefit workers here and around the world, protect our planet, and promote access to affordable medicines and safe food. We need fair trade agreements that end job-killing currency manipulation and allow U.S. workers – the most productive in the world – to compete on a fair playing field.

While today’s vote was a setback, the fight to fix TPP continues.”