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Angry Warren Tells Obama to Stop Making 'Untrue' Claims About Trade Pact
Saturday, April 25, 2015 06:37 PM
By: Todd Beamon
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown slammed President Barack Obama on Saturday and called on him to make public details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal the U.S. is negotiating with 12 nations.
"Members of Congress should be able to discuss the agreement with our constituents and to participate in a robust public debate, instead of being muzzled by classification rules," the senators said in a letter to Obama reported by The Huffington Post.
Warren represents Massachusetts, while Brown serves Ohio. They both sit on the Senate Banking Committee.
The letter continues the public sparring between Obama and Warren, which began Tuesday when Obama told MSNBC that the senator was "just wrong" on the pending deal. The next day, Warren questioned Obama promises on the agreement in an email to supporters because "people like you can't see the actual deal."
Obama hit back on Friday, accusing Warren and other Democrats of spreading "misinformation that stirs up the base but ultimately doesn't serve them."
"The idea that we can shut down globalization, reduce trade … is wrong-headed," Obama said on a conference call with Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. "That horse has left the barn."
Democrats overwhelmingly oppose the trade agreement, while it has the support of most Republicans. The White House has treated the agreement as classified information, which prevents Congress and the American public from reviewing it in detail.
In their letter, Warren and Brown argue that the draft of the deal be made public, since Congress would be stripped of its authority to amend it if legislators give Obama "fast-track" authority to negotiate a final deal, the Huffington Post reports.
"Your administration has deemed the draft text of the agreement classified and kept it hidden from public view, thereby making it a secret deal," the senators said. "It is currently illegal for the press, experts, advocates, or the general public to review the text of this agreement.
"And, while you noted that members of Congress may 'walk over ... and read the text of the agreement' — as we have done — you neglected to mention that we are prohibited by law from discussing the specifics of that text in public."
Warren and Brown appeared angered at being accused of lying by President Obama.
"We respectfully suggest that characterizing the assessments of labor unions, journalists, members of Congress, and others who disagree with your approach to transparency on trade issues as 'dishonest' is both untrue and unlikely to serve the best interests of the American people," the senators said.
