The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement the U.S. is negotiating with 11 other nations, will outsource more jobs, prohibit banking regulation, and expand corporate intellectual property rights that curtail Internet freedom and limit access to lifesaving generic drugs. It will also grant foreign corporations the power to sue our government when our laws block their environmentally destructive projects and toxic products. The TPP is shrouded in secrecy. The Administration intends to complete negotiations by October 2013 with almost no media attention or input from the public and Congress. President Obama has said he’ll ask Congress to grant him Fast Track Authority, which will force Congress to vote on the TPP without changing a single word of it. That’s where we come in.

The Sierra Club, the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, and partners will hold a teach-in and lobbying skillshare to discuss the TPP. The second half of the event will consist of a teach-in for small audience groups divided by congressional district on how to phone, write, and visit their legislators, calling on them to retain their constitutional power to discuss and amend trade agreements instead of yielding it to the Administrative branch.

Speakers:

• Ilana Solomon, Trade Representative for the Sierra Club
• Kenneth Peres, Chief Economist of the Communication Workers of America
• Alisa Simmons, National Field Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch
• Manuel Perez-Rocha, Associate Fellow from the Institute for Policy Studies
• Adam Weissman, founder, Global Justice for Animals and the Environment (Moderator)

From 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM we’ll split into groups by congressional district for information on how to call, write, and lobby our Congress Members. We’ll make use of the Sierra Club Activist Toolkit that you can check out ahead of time.

Our goals are to:

1. Express our concerns about TPP with our Senators and Congress Members.
2. Ask your representatives to obtain a copy of the agreed-on TPP texts to share with you.
3. Ask your representatives to publicly pledge to vote against Fast Track.

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