Fast Track and Marriage Equality

Floor Speech

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Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, in just a few months in Washington, I have learned that there is always something going on, and this week is no exception to that rule. In the coming days, two very important actions may change life for many of my constituents and Americans across the country.

Last week, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Ryan, introduced the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, legislation that would allow the President to negotiate and to sign trade agreements with limited congressional oversight. The Committee on Ways and Means has reported that legislation out, and I imagine we will be considering it on the floor in short order.

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, which is a case that has the potential to decide once and for all whether every American, regardless of sexual orientation, should have the right to marry and should have access to all of the legal rights and benefits we afford married couples.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and I plan to address both of these important issues on the floor of the people's House this afternoon. I want to start by talking about the legislation that was reported out by the Ways and Means Committee this week.

If Congress authorizes TPA's fast-track authority, this President and every President elected after him will have the unprecedented authority to negotiate and sign sweeping trade agreements with little opportunity for Congress to intercede on behalf of the many Americans those deals inevitably impact.

In the past, those agreements haven't turned out great for American workers here at home, which is all the more important reason that Congress should be able to retain the ability to fight for what is in the best interests of our constituents. AMfter 6 years of secretive negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, we haven't been given much motivation to release any of this oversight.

Offering fast-track authority for the TPP means that we press fast-forward on policies that put American families' health at risk on policies that are challenging our chemical safeguards, on policies allowing unregulated and potentially contaminated food products into the United States.

We lose our chance to question policies that would allow foreign corporations to skirt our courts and demand taxpayer compensation when they feel they have been violated by U.S. laws.

Our constituents are relying on us to stand up for their interests on TPP and on every future trade agreement to come down the line. We cannot pass the buck on this, and I know that our first speaker today agrees with me.

I want to talk a little bit about the State of New Jersey because the State of New Jersey has seen what can happen when trade deals go bad: factories close, employees are laid off, and cities that have previously made things that have been bought by consumers around the world are suddenly faced with stunted economies and surges in unemployment.

My capital district--``Trenton makes, the World Takes''--is an illustration of what was a great economy in that locale. That is why it is so important that this bodyM ensures we only sign these agreements when we are sure they will help, not hurt, working families.

I yield now to another Member who is deeply familiar with the issues in New Jersey, my friend and my fellow freshman from New Jersey (Mr. Norcross).

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Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank the gentlelady for having taken this issue and just gone forward with it and having been such an educator of us, of the ones that are new and the ones that have been here and that have taken the time to really speak to the constituents about the impact of this trade agreement and the potential that it has a negative impact on our economy, our safety, our security, our worker protections. I thank you very much.

I think it is quite illuminating for people to understand that no one is opposed to trade. We are just opposed to unequal trade. No one is opposed to exporting or importing. We are opposed to not knowing what is in this trade agreement. We are opposed to not having a say in this trade agreement, and we are opposed to anything that creates greater unequal opportunities for the workers of this country to have decent jobs and good wages that are being paid. So I thank you very much.

The notion of giving this President, whom we love, and any President that we are going to love in the future the authority to do that without our involvement is not what was expected by creating these three coequal branches of government.

As I said to you in the beginning, there are two very important issues that our constituents are concerned about, Mr. Speaker, that we are going to speak out today because they are occupying the minds of many of our colleagues over the next few weeks. It is not only this major issue that will be on the minds of American people, but next week, just next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case that has the potential to fulfill the principles of equality and justice that this country stands for. When the court hears arguments in this case, they will have the opportunity to ensure that every American, regardless of whom they love, has access to the legal rights and benefits we give on the Federal and State level to married couples.

More than 60 percent of Americans already agree that same-sex couples deserve the same recognition that we give heterosexual couples; and just as public opposition has crumbled, so have many of the arguments we have made against giving these couples the same protections we give their heterosexual peers. I am proud to be a member of the LGBT Caucus and to join my colleagues today on the floor this evening as we urge the court to rule in support of equal rights and in favor of marriage equality.

It is my pleasure now to yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), a leader in the fight for marriage equality and equality in general for all people. I now ask Mr. Takano from the great State of California to share his remarks with us.

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