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Vote Alert: House: Obamatrade Fast Track Authority for TPP

This vote was on the key procedural provision known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). TPA grants a special fast-track status to trade deals negotiated by the president and as such has been dubbed Obamatrade. While conservatives generally support trade agreements as important tools for lowering tariffs and trade barriers, and TPA is often needed in order to effectively negotiate with other countries, this particular TPA was problematic for a number of reasons. Typically, a TPA is passed at the beginning of negotiation cycles so that Congress directs the president to negotiate along specific parameters. In this case, the three primary treaties that would receive fast-track status under this TPA have already been negotiated in secret for years. There is no reason to pass fast track authority without releasing more details about these trade agreements to the public. Moreover, given this president’s penchant for implementing major policies without Congress, there was a widespread fear that Obama would use these trade agreements to pursue liberal policies, such as changes to our immigration system, labor laws, and global warming regulations. For example, according to WikiLeaks, one of the impending trade deals – the Trade in Service Agreement (TISA) – contains an entire immigration section, including a provision prohibiting US authorities from conducting in-person interviews for certain visa categories. Additionally, the main trade deal – the Trans Pacific Partnership – contains a “living agreement” provision, which could enable Obama to expand the scope of the agreement during the final months of his presidency or add countries like China to the agreement. Finally, GOP Leadership negotiated a deal to advance Trade Promotion Authority and in exchange for Democrat votes, promised to renew the crony capitalist Export-Import Bank and a failed government handout program known as Trade Adjustment Assistance, a subsidy bailout for labor unions. The bill passed the House on June 18, 2015 218-208.

 

To see how your elected officials stack up or other votes that comprise the Liberty Score, view our full scorecard here.

 

Conservative position: NO

 
  
 
 
 

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AYES—218
         
Abraham
Allen
Amodei
 Ashford
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
 Bera
 Beyer
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
 Blumenauer
Boehner
 Bonamici
Bost
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coffman
Cole
Comstock
Conaway
 Connolly
 Cooper
 Costa
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
 Cuellar
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
 Davis (CA)
 Delaney
 DelBene
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Duffy
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
 Farr
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gibbs
Goodlatte
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
 
Graves (MO)
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Hartzler
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
 Himes
 Hinojosa
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Johnson (OH)
 Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Kelly (PA)
 Kilmer
 Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
 Larsen (WA)
Latta
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meehan
 Meeks
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mullin
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Nunes
 O'Rourke
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
 Peters
Pittenger
Pitts
 
Poe (TX)
 Polis
Pompeo
Price, Tom
 Quigley
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
 Rice (NY)
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rouzer
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
 Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
 Sewell (AL)
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
 Wasserman Schultz
Weber (TX)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zinke
 
 

NOES—208
         
Adams
Aderholt
 Aguilar
Amash
 Bass
 Beatty
 Becerra
 Bishop (GA)
 Boyle, Brendan F.
 Brady (PA)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
 Brown (FL)
 Brownley (CA)
Buck
Burgess
 Bustos
 Butterfield
 Capps
 Capuano
 Cárdenas
 Carney
 Carson (IN)
 Cartwright
 Castor (FL)
 Castro (TX)
 Chu, Judy
 Cicilline
 Clark (MA)
 Clarke (NY)
Clawson (FL)
 Clay
 Cleaver
 Cohen
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
 Conyers
Cook
 Courtney
 Crowley
 Cummings
 Davis, Danny
 DeFazio
 DeGette
 DeLauro
 DeSaulnier
 Deutch
 Dingell
 Doggett
Donovan
 Doyle, Michael F.
 Duckworth
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
 Edwards
 Ellison
 Engel
 Eshoo
 Esty
Farenthold
 Fattah
Fleming
 Foster
 Frankel (FL)
 Fudge
 Gabbard
 Gallego
 Garamendi
Garrett
 
Gibson
Gohmert
 Graham
 Grayson
 Green, Al
 Green, Gene
Griffith
 Grijalva
 Gutiérrez
 Hahn
Harris
 Hastings
 Heck (WA)
 Higgins
 Honda
 Hoyer
 Huffman
Hunter
 Israel
 Jackson Lee
 Jeffries
Jenkins (WV)
 Johnson (GA)
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
 Kaptur
Katko
 Keating
 Kelly (IL)
 Kennedy
 Kildee
 Kirkpatrick
 Kuster
Labrador
 Langevin
 Larson (CT)
 Lawrence
 Lee
 Levin
 Lewis
 Lieu, Ted
 Lipinski
LoBiondo
 Loebsack
 Lofgren
 Lowenthal
 Lowey
 Lujan Grisham (NM)
 Luján, Ben Ray (NM)
Lummis
 Lynch
MacArthur
 Maloney, Carolyn
 Maloney, Sean
Massie
 Matsui
 McCollum
 McDermott
 McGovern
McKinley
 McNerney
Meadows
 Meng
Mooney (WV)
 Moore
 Moulton
Mulvaney
 Murphy (FL)
 Nadler
 
Napolitano
 Neal
 Nolan
 Norcross
Nugent
 Pallone
Palmer
 Pascrell
Pearce
 Pelosi
 Perlmutter
Perry
 Peterson
 Pingree
 Pocan
Poliquin
Posey
 Price (NC)
 Rangel
 Richmond
Rohrabacher
Rothfus
 Roybal-Allard
 Ruiz
 Ruppersberger
 Rush
Russell
 Ryan (OH)
 Sánchez, Linda T.
 Sanchez, Loretta
 Sarbanes
 Schakowsky
 Schiff
 Scott (VA)
 Scott, David
 Serrano
 Sherman
 Sinema
 Sires
 Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
 Smith (WA)
 Speier
 Swalwell (CA)
 Takai
 Takano
 Thompson (CA)
 Thompson (MS)
 Titus
 Tonko
 Torres
 Tsongas
 Van Hollen
 Vargas
 Veasey
 Vela
 Velázquez
 Visclosky
 Walz
 Waters, Maxine
 Watson Coleman
Webster (FL)
 Welch
Westmoreland
 Wilson (FL)
Wittman
 Yarmuth
Zeldin
 
 

NOT VOTING—8
         
Byrne
 Clyburn
Davis, Rodney
 
Gosar
Jolly
Kelly (MS)
 
Payne
Young (AK)
 
 

 

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