Rep. Yanez offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 195.

            A resolution to urge the United States Senate to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any similar trade deals that fail to restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past.

            Whereas, The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the latest in a string of free trade agreements designed at the expense of hard-working Americans. The growing trade deficits, driven by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, have displaced 700,000 jobs, 3.2 million jobs, and 75,000 jobs, respectively. Moreover, under NAFTA-style trade rules, the U.S. annual trade deficit has increased dramatically from $70 billion in 1993—the year before NAFTA went into effect—to more than $508 billion in 2014; and

            Whereas, This free trade agreement will cause significant injury to American manufacturing and hard-working families. Since 2000, the number of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. has declined by 5 million, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership will exacerbate this problem. Jobs lost due to trade agreements devastate families and entire communities and can permanently reduce lifetime earnings for hundreds of thousands of American workers; and

            Whereas, Poorly constructed trade agreements, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, come at great cost to our communities, our state, and our nation. The offshoring of manufacturing and service-related jobs deprive local and state governments of sorely needed revenue, jeopardizing the livelihood of millions of public servants as well as construction workers whose jobs depend upon infrastructure building, repair, and maintenance. Nationally, the long decline of the American manufacturing base—exacerbated by bad trade policies that reward outsourcing—has undermined our economic security and poses a direct threat to our national security; and

            Whereas, The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been negotiated in secret. This has effectively shut state and local governments out of the process, limiting our ability to influence its rules to ensure the people of the state of Michigan can participate in the benefits of trade. Additionally, given the enactment of fast track trade negotiating authority, states, localities, and their citizens will have no opportunity to correct shortcomings in the Trans-Pacific Partnership since its text will not be made public until it is final and no longer can be improved; and

            Whereas, The process by which "free trade" agreements are constructed gives a disproportionate voice to powerful global corporations interested in advancing an agenda that undermines the public interest and threatens democracy. The process in U.S. trade deals for the past 25 years has been corporate-driven, incorporating rules that skew benefits to economic elites. In NAFTA and all but two of the U.S. trade deals that followed, special legal rights for foreign investors, known as "investor-to-state dispute settlement" or ISDS, were included that allow foreign firms to bypass state and federal courts and to challenge state and local laws, regulations, and administrative and judicial decisions in international tribunals. Foreign investors already have used NAFTA’s ISDS provisions to challenge decisions regarding local building permits, state bans on toxic chemicals, and decisions of state courts; and

Whereas, The Trans-Pacific Partnership has reused the failed practices of the past. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is likely to include provisions locking in monopoly protections for expensive specialty drugs called biologics and constrict the government’s ability to limit spending on drugs, potentially increasing drug costs for the government and all Americans. The agreement will also likely override local labor laws, environmental regulations, and other issues. The environmental provisions are particularly weakened compared to past agreements, making it more difficult to punish violators; and

            Whereas, Free trade agreements should be more inclusive of all impacted parties. In Michigan, as in our nation as a whole, promoting economic growth with equity requires an approach that reforms the entire trade negotiation process to ensure that voices of workers, farmers, small businesses, families, and communities are heard and their interests addressed. Repeating old mistakes in negotiating new trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, represents a missed opportunity to strengthen our economy, reduce income inequality, and promote sustainable growth. Congress must ensure all voices are heard; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the United States Senate to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any similar trade deals that fail to restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past; and be it further

            Resolved, That we urge that any free trade agreement only be approved by the United States Senate if the agreement contains provisions that:

· Exclude investor-to-state dispute settlement and other provisions that favor foreign companies over domestic ones and undermine public choices;

· Ensure that countries cannot undercut U.S.-based producers with weaker labor and environmental laws and enforcement;

· Ensure that the U.S. will engage in robust enforcement of trade rules, including labor and environmental rules;

· Include strong rule-of-origin provisions to promote economic growth and job creation in the U.S.;

· Promote high standards of protection for workplaces, products, and natural resources rather than promoting a race to the bottom; and

· Put the interests of people and the planet over the interests of private profit.

; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.