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WASHINGTON – Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., today voted in favor of trade promotion authority, or TPA, legislation, which would impose congressional accountability to the president’s trade negotiation efforts through enhanced oversight and additional transparency. 

“There have been many mischaracterizations of what TPA is. The allegation that TPA is something for President Obama is false. Every day I hear from constituents who want me to hold the president accountable. TPA does just that by holding President Obama accountable on trade and is consistent with my ongoing efforts to limit the damage he has done to this nation. TPA requires the president to follow congressional negotiating directives and provides transparency for any negotiating texts and, of course, final agreements that Congress considers,” said Foxx. “It is also important to recognize more than 95 percent of the world’s customers live beyond U.S. borders, and 1.2 million jobs in North Carolina rely on trade. While I heard many different perspectives on TPA from my constituents, the argument from North Carolina families, farmers and employers that negotiating these trade agreements is in the economic best interest of our state was the deciding factor for my vote in favor of TPA today.”

Before it expired in 2007, TPA had applied to every president since 1974. The legislation would hold trade negotiators accountable to 150 congressional priorities, including protections for Israel, human rights and intellectual property; rules for agricultural trade; and measures to combat currency manipulation. It also includes strict transparency requirements that would allow the American people to have the opportunity to review the full text of any agreements negotiated under TPA and fully understand an agreement’s economic impact before a vote in Congress on its approval.  

TPA passed the House by a vote of 218-208.

In North Carolina, trade-related employment grew 3.8 times faster than total state employment from 2004 to 2013. The state exported $29.2 billion in goods and $17.2 billion in services in 2013. The United States currently enjoys a nearly $55 billion manufacturing trade surplus with its 20 existing free trade agreement partners.

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U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and is the elected Republican Conference Secretary. Dr. Foxx is the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and serves as Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee.