Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, spoke at a special GBD event yesterday morning.  TPA or Trade Promotion Authority was at the top of his agenda.  The title of his speech was:

It would be an over-simplification to say that today's quote was the heart of the speech.  It was, however, a clear, unambiguous message to the President and his negotiators, and, understandably it has been repeated in several publications over the course of the last 24-plus hours.

The insistence on TPA first was not a free-standing assertion.  Rather it was a conclusion that follows from two powerful considerations: one practical and the other Constitutional.

The practical consideration is that, because America's trading partners are well acquainted with the role of Congress in trade, the Administration won't see their best offers unless it has trade promotion authority.  "I've worked closely with USTRs across Democratic and Republican Administrations," Mr. Camp said.  "And that experience has made it clear - you cannot get the best agreement possible without TPA."

He spoke just as plainly about the Constitutional issue.  "Congress will see concluding a trade agreement without TPA as trumping Congressional prerogatives and negotiating objectives and ignoring its Constitutional role," he said.

It was evident from his remarks that Chairman Camp would like to see a TPA bill passed on his watch, possibly during the lame duck session that is likely to follow the November election.  But it might take longer, and when the 114th Congress convenes in January 2015, Chairman Camp will be a private citizen.  He addressed that issue head on as well.  "To those who may discount my view," he said, "I can assure you that it is shared by my Ways and Means colleagues, our leadership, and a majority of Members of Congress."

TPA was his starting point, but in his speech to GBD yesterday, Chairman Camp talked about all of the big trade issues, including TPP, the U.S.-EU talks, the negotiations for an agreement on trade in services, GSP, and the future of AGOA (the African Growth and Opportunity Act).  We expect to deal with many if not all of those issues in future entries and to return to Chairman Camp's June 19 speech for help in doing so.

Here we will simply note that it was a remarkable speech: comprehensive, clear - indeed, in some passage, blunt - yet nuanced where nuance was called for.  And fundamentally it was a very positive speech.  We encourage you to click on the link below and read it for yourself.