BREAKING: Fast Track and the TPP knocked off course by U.S. Senate vote

BREAKING: Obama’s own Senators have just put the brakes on Fast Track and the TPP, potentially putting the brakes on the process for the foreseeable future. Slated for debate in the Senate this afternoon, President Obama’s Trade Promotion Authority Bill, better known as ‘Fast Track Legislation,’ was shut down before it even reached the floor, effectively derailing the plan to pass the Bill as soon as possible and demonstrate momentum to the 11 other countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The Democrats, going head-to-head with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, say that they would vote for the Fast Track Bill, but have not received adequate assurances that it will include additional protections for workers, and will not back down until they do.

So what does this mean for those of us fighting against Internet censorship in the TPP and the Fast-Tracking of the agreement?

Well, the vote to delay debate likely means that we won’t see the proposed legislation discussed in the Senate until June, which pushes back the legislative timetable of the entire Fast Track process, and leeches support for the TPP agreement overall, as other negotiating countries harbour growing concerns around the stalled US domestic debate.

And the longer the process is on hold, the more likely it is that the raging debate over the merits of the TPP will spill over into the 2016 Presidential election, which both critics and proponents have said could be the death of the agreement.

Read more here.

More than anything, what this delay shows us is that the the huge coalition against Fast Tracking the TPP has been successful in drawing attention to the undemocratic nature in which this agreement is being negotiated, and that our continued efforts are paying off.

Speak out today at StopTheSecrecy.net.