President Obama courted controversy with his own party in the State of the Union by again calling for a key Asian trade deal to be fast-tracked.
The Trans Pacific Partnership is opposed by some senior Democrats, who believe it will lead to a loss of jobs here.
Obama is asking to be given the authority to negotiate the deal without congressional oversight. Connecticut’s Third District Representative Rosa DeLauro said that’s not acceptable.
"I don't believe we ought to give up our constitutional authority to review these agreements, and this particular agreements goes well beyond any of the trade agreements we've had in the past," DeLauro told WNPR.
DeLauro’s guest at the speech was John Barto, previously an executive at Ansonia Specialty Metals, a company that went out of business in 2007. He said his business was a victim of cheap goods coming into the country from Korea, and he says President Obama needs to slow down over the TPP deal.
"What's the hurry?" Barto asked. "Why are we putting due diligence aside to rush this through?"
The TPP would involve eleven Asian nations along the Pacific Rim, affecting as much as 40 percent of the world’s economy.
