Skip to main content
Sojourners
faith in action for social justice
Sojourners
About
About SojournersEventsOur TeamWork With UsMediaWays to GiveInvite a SpeakerContact Us
SojoAction
OverviewTake ActionIssue AreasResourcesFaith-Rooted AdvocatesChurch Engagement
Magazine
Current IssueArchivesManage My SubscriptionWrite for Sojourners
Sections
LatestPoliticsColumnsLiving FaithArts & CultureGlobalPodcastsVideoPreaching The Word
Subscribe
MagazineRenewPreaching the WordCustomer ServiceNewsletters
Donate
Login / Register

The Insider List

By Elizabeth Palmberg
Elizabeth Palmberg / Sojourners
Screenshot of spreadsheet, Elizabeth Palmberg / Sojourners
Jun 29, 2012
Share

It's a honking long list of insiders — 605 names long, give or take a few duplicates. What do all of them, mostly from corporate America, know about the secret playbook U.S. trade officials are using next week in San Diego to negotiate a potentially huge international agreement?

Five U.S. senators and 132 members of the House of Representatives wish they knew. They've been asking U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the official in charge of such negotiations, to pretty-please let all members of Congress see the working text, or at least chapter summaries, of the deceptively benign-sounding Trans-Pacific Partnership, now in the works. 

So far, Kirk has said no. (In his defense, last month House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., leaked a draft [from 2011] of the "intellectual property" chapter of TPP, just because it's a "secretive agreement" that could “undermine individual privacy rights and stifle innovation." Leaking, whistleblowing--potato, potahto).

If the U.S. Trade Representative is blowing off U.S. citizens' elected representatives, who is he representing? That’s where the 600 trade advisors with access to the text, mentioned in many news stories, come in. They’re on the 16 different “industry trade advisory committees” [ITACs], plus seven non-industrial committees, which the USTR says it keeps “up to date as the negotiations proceed." (Of course, you can't believe everything you read — the USTR also says it's given any member of Congress "access to classified negotiating documents and texts.")

The names are listed on 23 different websites, so, when taking a recent intercity bus ride, I downloaded them all into one spreadsheet. Is it really "more than 600" lobbyists? Close. It’s probably a bit fewer than 600, since some people are on two different committees. Most are from corporations such as Wal-Mart and Cargill or from industry groups, but there are a few nonprofits represented, including — irony alert! — Transparency International.

Oh, and the Obama administration told registered lobbyists in 2009 that they couldn’t serve on the committees, so maybe these aren't technically lobbyists—just corporate employees telling the government what they want it to do. See the difference?

I’m not blaming the people on this list for doing what they're hired to do, participating in a system Congress set up in 1974. (OK, maybe I'm blaming Tobacco Associates Inc., who are presumably trying to use trade pacts to weaken countries' public health laws). And I'm not blaming those on the list for not leaking; they're all sworn to secrecy. (But I'm not, so if anyone would like to share any non-public information, please give me a call at the Sojourners offices!)

I'm just saying that, if the USTR can send the negotiating text to around 600 insiders, then sending it to all 535 members of Congress—or, heck, a few media —shouldn't be too hard.

Elizabeth Palmberg is an associate editor of Sojourners magazine and tweets @ZabPalmberg.

Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!

Tell Us What You Think!

We value your feedback on the articles we post. Please fill out the form below, and a member of our online publication team will receive your message. By submitting this form, you consent to your comment being featured in our Letters section. 

Please do not include any non-text characters, such as emojis or other non-standard content, into your submission.  It may cause errors in submitting the form.  Thanks!

Don't Miss a Story!

Sojourners is committed to faith and justice even in polarized times. Will you join us on the journey?
Confirm Your Email Address.
By entering your email we'll send you our newsletter each Thursday. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Screenshot of spreadsheet, Elizabeth Palmberg / Sojourners
Search Sojourners

Subscribe

Magazine Newsletters Preaching The Word
Follow on Facebook Follow on Bluesky Follow on Instagram Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Sojourners
Donate Products Editorial Policies Privacy Policy

Media

Advertising Press

Opportunities

Careers Fellowship Program

Contact

Office
408 C St. NE
Washington DC, 20002
Phone 202-328-8842
Fax 202-328-8757
Email sojourners@sojo.net
Unless otherwise noted, all material © Sojourners 2025