[国会记录第158卷，75号（2012年5月23日星期三）] [参议院] [第S3517-S3519]通过政府印刷办公室在线国会记录[www.gpo.gov]陈述引入账单和联合决议由Wyden先生：3225.一项要求美国贸易代表要求提供与国会成员及其工作人员有关的文件，并根据要求提供与其工作人员有关的文件;向金融委员会。威登先生。主席先生，现在，奥巴马政府正在谈判以来，自世界贸易组织近二十年前成立以来，谈判可能是最深远的经济协定。该协议的目标是被称为跨太平洋合作伙伴关系，TPP  - 是经济地将亚太地区经济联系在一起。它涉及来自澳大利亚，新加坡，越南，秘鲁，智利和美国的国家，并拥有许多国家，如日本，韩国，加拿大和墨西哥。如果成功，协议将设定商品和服务贸易的规范，并包括与知识产权有关的纪律，获取药物，互联网治理，投资，政府采购，工人权利和环境标准。如果同意，TPP将为我们国家的经济未来设定语调，多年来，影响国会干预和代表它代表的美国人民行动。It may be the U.S. Trade Representative's, USTR, current job to negotiate trade agreements on behalf of the United States, but Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress--not the USTR or any other member of the Executive Branch--the responsibility of regulating foreign commerce. It was our Founding Fathers' intention to ensure that the laws and policies that govern the American people take into account the interests of all the American people, not just a privileged few. Yet, the majority of Congress is being kept in the dark as to the substance of the TPP negotiations, while representatives of U.S. corporations--like Halliburton, Chevron, PHRMA, Comcast, and the Motion Picture Association of America--are being consulted and made privy to details of the agreement. As the Office of the USTR will tell you, the President gives it broad power to keep information about the trade policies it advances and negotiates, secret. Let me tell you, the USTR is making full use of this authority. As the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness, my office is responsible for conducting oversight over the USTR and trade negotiations. To do that, I asked that my staff obtain the proper security credentials to view the information that USTR keeps confidential and secret. This is material that fully describes what the [[Page S3518]] USTR is seeking in the TPP talks on behalf of the American people and on behalf of Congress. More than two months after receiving the proper security credentials, my staff is still barred from viewing the details of the proposals that USTR is advancing. We hear that the process by which TPP is being negotiated has been a model of transparency. I disagree with that statement. And not just because the Staff Director of the Senate subcommittee responsible for oversight of international trade continues to be denied access to substantive and detailed information that pertains to the TPP talks. Congress passed legislation in 2002 to form the Congressional Oversight Group, or COG, to foster more USTR consultation with Congress. I was a senator in 2002. I voted for that law and I can tell you the intention of that law was to ensure that USTR consulted with more Members of Congress not less. In trying to get to the bottom of why my staff is being denied information, it seems that some in the Executive Branch may be interpreting the law that established the COG to mean that only the few Members of Congress who belong to the COG can be given access to trade negotiation information, while every other Member of Congress, and their staff, must be denied such access. So, this is not just a question of whether or not cleared staff should have access to information about the TPP talks, this is a question of whether or not the administration believes that most Members of Congress can or should have a say in trade negotiations. Again, having voted for that law, I strongly disagree with such an interpretation and find it offensive that some would suggest that a law meant to foster more consultation with Congress is intended to limit it. But given that the TPP negotiations are currently underway and I-- and the vast majority of my colleagues and their staff--continue to be denied a full understanding of what the USTR is seeking in the agreement, we do not have time to waste on a protracted legal battle over this issue. Therefore, I am introducing legislation to clarify the intent of the COG statute. The legislation, I propose, is straightforward. It gives all Members of Congress and staff with appropriate clearance access to the substance of trade negotiations. Finally, Members of Congress who are responsible for conducting oversight over the enforcement of trade agreements will be provided information by the Executive Branch indicating whether our trading partners are living up to their trade obligations. Put simply, this legislation would ensure that the representatives elected by the American people are afforded the same level of influence over our nation's policies as the paid representatives of PHRMA, Halliburton and the Motion Picture Association. My intent is to do everything I can to see that this legislation is advanced quickly and becomes law, so that elected Members of Congress can do what the Constitution requires and what their constituents expect. ______