ICYMI: Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Ryan: Putting Congress in Charge on Trade

This was found on the TedCruz.org website. It points to an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal written by Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan expressing their support for TPP, The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Ted Cruz voted in the precursor legislation known as TAA.




HOUSTON, Texas — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., penned a joint op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in support of establishing trade-promotion authority to strengthen the bargaining position of the United States. See excerpt below, and the full op-ed may be viewed here.

Putting Congress in Charge on Trade
Wall Street Journal
By Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan

But Congress can’t just take the administration’s word that it will drive a hard bargain. We have to hold it accountable, and that is what trade-promotion authority will help do.

Under TPA, Congress lays out three basic requirements for the administration. First, it must pursue nearly 150 specific negotiating objectives, like beefing up protections for U.S. intellectual property or eliminating kickbacks for government-owned firms. Second, the administration must consult regularly with Congress and meet high transparency standards.

And third, before anything becomes law, Congress gets the final say. The Constitution vests all legislative power in Congress. So TPA makes it clear that Congress—and only Congress—can change U.S. law. If the administration meets all the requirements, Congress will give the agreement an up-or-down vote. But if the administration fails, Congress can hit the brakes, cancel the vote and stop the agreement.

Read the full op-ed here.