Rush Opposes Trade Promotion Authority Legislation

Press Release

U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) announced today that he will oppose H.R. 1890, the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015. This bill which would award the President with Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) -- commonly known as Fast Track Authority -- was passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee last week.

Rush explained, "Our recent history has taught us that the trade deals our country has enacted have a negative impact on the American workforce. I believe the underlying trade bill, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that is currently being negotiated will only further erode America's manufacturing jobs, particularly the automobile industry. These trade bills have been nothing more than a tourniquet that denied the flow from the poor to rise to the middle-class.

"Therefore, we must be mindful of this lesson and not repeat this mistake again. Our country needs a new balanced trade model that creates more jobs in the United States instead of sending them overseas. For this reason, I will vote NO on H.R. 1890, the so called Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015."

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