DeFazio to Lead Rally Against Fast Track Trade Authority and Organize Students to Protect Student Loans
Washington, D.C. – May 1, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will be in Eugene Monday, May 4, leading a rally to oppose fast track trade authority for President Obama and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Later he will lead a discussion with University of Oregon students about the student debt crisis. Event details follow:
WHAT: Rally to Stop Fast Track
WHEN: 12:00 Noon to 12:30 PM, Monday, May 4, 2015
WHERE: Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza
Ahead of President Obama’s visit to Oregon, DeFazio will headline a rally with American workers opposing Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the President, also known as “fast track.” TPA would give President Obama the authority to push through major trade deals with little to no input from Congress and no enforceable protections for American workers, consumers or the environment. When a free trade agreement is submitted under fast track procedures Congress must pass it within 90 days with an up or down vote, no amendments, and limited debate. It would not be subject to normal congressional committee review and markup. It would forbid all amendments and permit only 20 hours of debate. The Obama administration is asking Congress for fast track authority in order to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, some of the largest trade agreements in history.
WHAT: Save Student Aid Event
WHEN: 1:00-2:00 PM, Monday, May 4, 2015
WHERE: Many Nations Longhouse, University of Oregon Campus
DeFazio will be joined by students and representatives of the UofO and LCC to discuss the growing student debt crisis in our country. Total debt as quadrupled in the last decade, recently surpassing $1.3 trillion. As college tuition continues to soar and family incomes barely budge, this number will only continue to increase. This is not sustainable and it is crushing young people’s ability to find a job, invest in a home, or contribute to the economy. More than half a million Oregonians of all ages are weighed down by student debt just because they wanted a better shot.
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