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| The Huizenga Huddle: June 22, 2015 |
A New Face For A Familiar Place
I’m excited to announce the launch of the new Huizenga.House.Gov website.
On the new website you are able to request assistance in dealing with a federal agency, schedule tours of the Capitol if you are visiting Washington DC, and send me emails to share your thoughts on legislation before the House.
Additionally, the home page of the website features up-to-the-minute information from my official Facebook and Twitter, as well as, my voting record with brief descriptions of the legislation being voted on.
The goal of the new website is to provide residents of West Michigan greater access to information about the legislative process and how the legislation under consideration impacts West Michigan.
Click here to take a look at the new website.
Trade Promotion Authority
Over the last few weeks my offices have heard from a variety of voices across West Michigan regarding potential trade agreements and legislation that would impact trade.
TPA, TPP, the alphabet soup is enough to make your head spin. The goal of this Huizenga Huddle is to inform you of what each of these means and try to cut through all of the misinformation that is being spread about trade legislation and potential trade agreements.
TPA, which stands for Trade Promotion Authority, passed the House on Thursday. TPA is not a secret document. It is a 117 page piece of legislation that is available online for you to read and strengthens the role of Congress in future trade negotiations from start to finish.
The Constitution gives the President wide ranging authority in terms of trade negotiations because it is not specific. TPA places an important check on the President, by permitting Congress to set nearly 150 negotiating objectives for the President to meet throughout the negotiations. You can read the objectives laid out in TPA beginning on page 3 here.
Once the negotiations are complete, the President will bring the agreement before the American people and Congress so it can be reviewed for 60 days before an up or down vote is held in both the House and the Senate.
This is the first time a potential trade agreement will be made available for the American people to see.
The potential trade agreement being discussed at the moment is known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership also known as TPP. This would be an agreement between the United States and 11 countries on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The countries involved are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
China is not included in TPP. China cannot join TPP without every country involved in TPP agreeing to let them in as well as a vote from Congress. Congress WILL NOT permit China to enter into this agreement. In fact, this agreement is designed to prevent China from gaining greater economic influence globally and in the Pacific Region.
It's also important to note that Congress has not voted on TPP. No legislation regarding TPP exists because negotiations between the United States have not been completed.
The Constitution places the responsibility of reviewing trade agreements on Congress. Because of Trade Promotion Authority, West Michigan residents will get to see what is in the potential trade agreement after the negotiations between the U.S. and our economic allies are completed.
After 60 days of review, both the House and the Senate will hold up or down votes on the finalized trade agreement. Both chambers of Congress must pass the agreement before it can become law. If either the House or the Senate rejects the agreement it does not become law.
Additionally, if the President fails to follow the objectives laid out by Congress, Trade Promotion Authority can be removed by a majority vote in either the House or the Senate.
If you would like more information regarding TPA, it can be found here, here, and here.
The Michigan Minute
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