PRINTER'S NO. 3541
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
932
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY BARRAR, MATZIE, D. MILLER, MARSHALL, D. COSTA,
DeLUCA, GIBBONS, GILLEN, HARHAI, KOTIK, LONGIETTI, NEILSON,
READSHAW AND ROZZI, JUNE 16, 2016
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 16, 2016
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States to oppose the Trans-
Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement and any similar
trade agreement that adversely affects the manufacturing base
of this nation, balloons the United States trade deficit or
harms the economic future of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, The growing trade deficit of the United States has
largely been driven by the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), which has cost more than 700,000 American jobs, by
China's ascension to the World Trade Organization, which has
cost more than 3 million American jobs, and by the United
States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which has cost more than
75,000 American jobs; and
WHEREAS, Between 2000 and 2015, American employment in
manufacturing has decreased by more than 5 million jobs; and
WHEREAS, The long decline of the American manufacturing base
undermines the economic security of this nation and poses a
direct threat to national security; and
WHEREAS, The offshoring of manufacturing and service jobs
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deprives State and local governments of sorely needed revenues
and jeopardizes the livelihoods of millions of public servants
as well as construction workers whose jobs depend upon
infrastructure building, repair and maintenance; and
WHEREAS, Under NAFTA-style trade rules, the annual trade
deficit of the United States has increased dramatically from $70
billion in 1993, the year before NAFTA went into effect, to more
than $508 billion in 2014; and
WHEREAS, NAFTA and all but two of the United States trade
agreements that followed include a provision containing special
legal rights for foreign investors, known as an "investor-state
dispute settlement," which allows foreign firms to bypass
Federal and State courts to challenge State and local laws,
regulations and administrative and judicial decisions in
international tribunals; and
WHEREAS, The Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement
(TPP) is likely to include provisions locking in monopoly
protection for expensive specialty drugs called biologics and
constricting the government's ability to limit spending on
drugs, potentially increasing drug costs for governmental
entities and all Americans; and
WHEREAS, The TPP has been negotiated in secret, effectively
curtailing input from State and local governments regarding the
effect of trade policies on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
limiting the ability of Commonwealth residents to participate in
and influence the negotiating process; and
WHEREAS, Given the nature of fast-track trade authority
regarding the TPP, states and localities and their residents
have no opportunity to correct the shortcomings and improve the
language of the TPP because the final text of the agreement has
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not been made publicly available and the Congress of the United
States cannot make any amendments to the agreement but can only
approve or deny the agreement as presented; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
States to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade
Agreement and any similar trade agreement that adversely affects
the manufacturing base of this nation, balloons the United
States trade deficit or harms the economic future of this
Commonwealth; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania call upon the members of the
Congress of the United States to recognize the misguided and
failed policies associated with past free trade agreements that
have decimated the manufacturing base of this nation, ballooned
the United States trade deficit and harmed the economic future
of this Commonwealth; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the President and Vice President of the United States, to the
presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each member
of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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