Northeast Ohio Office
2101 Front Street, # 111, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44221
330-928-2301 / 330-928-2416 / FAX: 330-928-2628
Website: http://www.afsc.net/
11. June 2015
David Joyce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC (sent via FAX)
Dear Representative Joyce,
The Northeast Ohio AFSC, representing 1500 supporters across the region, respectfully urges you to vote NO
on any Fast Track legislation that would increase the likelihood of any vote on the Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), or and
any other international agreement.
Fast Track is antidemocratic. It handcuffs your Congressional constitutional power and authority to "check and
balance" the power and authority of the Executive branch by limiting your ability to review, discuss, debate and
amend any international agreement. Why would any Congressperson, entrusted to represent We the
People, willingly relinquish this power and authority to unelected corporate representatives, thus
weakening democracy itself? History has shown that freedoms lost are quite costly and difficult to recover.
Fast Track is simply not needed as a prerequisite for a Congressional vote on the TPP, TTIP, TISA or any other
international agreement. The fact that the administration so desperately wants and needs Fast Track is telling. It
sends a crystal clear message to the American public that these super secret misnamed "trade" agreements
developed with the consultation of hundreds of transnational corporations are harmful to workers, consumers,
communities, the environment and democracy itself. It indicates that these agreements, which are actually
mostly about gutting democratically enacted laws and regulations, cannot pass on their own if the public, media
and Congress have a legitimate opportunity to research, understand, discuss and communicate their views on
these secret negotiations . Virtually everything the public and media know about these proposed agreements is
only due to leaked documents, which include provisions in the case of the TPP an investor state dispute
settlement (ISDS) process creating unaccountable and pro-corporate "tribunals" with the power to overrule
national laws and regulations passed by legislatures and/or upheld by courts.
Fast Track is a gift to transnational corporations. It's an affirmation that negotiating secret international
agreements (to the public that is, but not transnational corporations) than harm workers, consumers and the
environment are legitimate. And it's an exponentially further decline in the ability of citizens to govern
themselves -- citizens who already feel their political voices are not being heard by politicians who respond to
the interests of corporate entities and the super rich.
Fast Track is not ultimately about Democrats vs Republicans, "free" trade vs "fair" trade, or protecting jobs vs
expanding growth. These are secondary concerns, if not outright distractions. The core concern underlying each
of these proposals is the right to political self-determination, to democracy itself. If you feel citizens and their
elected representative, not corporate entities, should possess the fundamental right to determine the laws,
statutes and regulations in our municipalities, states and nation itself, then you will vote NO on Fast Track.
We trust you will make the right choice.
Respectfully,
Greg Coleridge
Director
on behalf of Northeast Ohio AFSC
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker social action organization that educates, advocates and
organizes for economic and social justice, peace, and self-governance. AFSC is a 501 (c)(3) organization.
Northeast Ohio Office
2101 Front Street, # 111, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44221
330-928-2301 / 330-928-2416 / FAX: 330-928-2628
Website: http://www.afsc.net/
11. June 2015
Jim Renacci
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC (sent via FAX)
Dear Representative Renacci,
The Northeast Ohio AFSC, representing 1500 supporters across the region, respectfully urges you to vote NO
on any Fast Track legislation that would increase the likelihood of any vote on the Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), or and
any other international agreement.
Fast Track is antidemocratic. It handcuffs your Congressional constitutional power and authority to "check and
balance" the power and authority of the Executive branch by limiting your ability to review, discuss, debate and
amend any international agreement. Why would any Congressperson, entrusted to represent We the
People, willingly relinquish this power and authority to unelected corporate representatives, thus
weakening democracy itself? History has shown that freedoms lost are quite costly and difficult to recover.
Fast Track is simply not needed as a prerequisite for a Congressional vote on the TPP, TTIP, TISA or any other
international agreement. The fact that the administration so desperately wants and needs Fast Track is telling. It
sends a crystal clear message to the American public that these super secret misnamed "trade" agreements
developed with the consultation of hundreds of transnational corporations are harmful to workers, consumers,
communities, the environment and democracy itself. It indicates that these agreements, which are actually
mostly about gutting democratically enacted laws and regulations, cannot pass on their own if the public, media
and Congress have a legitimate opportunity to research, understand, discuss and communicate their views on
these secret negotiations . Virtually everything the public and media know about these proposed agreements is
only due to leaked documents, which include provisions in the case of the TPP an investor state dispute
settlement (ISDS) process creating unaccountable and pro-corporate "tribunals" with the power to overrule
national laws and regulations passed by legislatures and/or upheld by courts.
Fast Track is a gift to transnational corporations. It's an affirmation that negotiating secret international
agreements (to the public that is, but not transnational corporations) than harm workers, consumers and the
environment are legitimate. And it's an exponentially further decline in the ability of citizens to govern
themselves -- citizens who already feel their political voices are not being heard by politicians who respond to
the interests of corporate entities and the super rich.
Fast Track is not ultimately about Democrats vs Republicans, "free" trade vs "fair" trade, or protecting jobs vs
expanding growth. These are secondary concerns, if not outright distractions. The core concern underlying each
of these proposals is the right to political self-determination, to democracy itself. If you feel citizens and their
elected representative, not corporate entities, should possess the fundamental right to determine the laws,
statutes and regulations in our municipalities, states and nation itself, then you will vote NO on Fast Track.
We trust you will make the right choice.
Respectfully,
Greg Coleridge
Director
on behalf of Northeast Ohio AFSC
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker social action organization that educates, advocates and
organizes for economic and social justice, peace, and self-governance. AFSC is a 501 (c)(3) organization.