U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio will be a panelist for a discussion from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today (Jan. 22) in the EMU Fir Room on Fast Track Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership – both of which are opposed by the congressman.

DeFazio will be joined by a panel of experts – including Gordon Lafer, a political economist and associate professor on the faculty of the UO's Labor Education and Research Center – to discuss environmental impacts and U.S. job losses that could result if the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is approved.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has been in negotiation since 2010, is a proposed expansion of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, a trade agreement in place since 2005 between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.

The expansion would include a dozen countries – Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. Both the existing partnership and the proposed expansion are intended to manage trade and the economies of the Asia-Pacific region.

Fast Track Authority grants power to the executive branch to negotiate free trade agreements with little input from Congress. When a free trade agreement is submitted under fast track procedures, Congress must pass it within 90 days with an up or down vote, no amendments and limited debate.

In the absence of fast track authority, Congress can fully consider such agreements, determine economic impacts and amend them to protect American jobs and workers. 

- from the UO Office of Strategic Communications