1. Congress becomes an equal partner with the President in approving free trade proposals.
2. Congress will establish the objectives of potential trade bills.
3. Congress must give any trade deal an up-or-down vote.
4. The text of any trade deal is required to be made public to the American people at least 60 days before the President can sign it.

"Under TPA, Congress lays out three basic requirements for the administration. First, it must pursue nearly 150 specific negotiating objectives, like beefing up protections for U.S. intellectual property or eliminating kickbacks for government-owned firms. Second, the administration must consult regularly with Congress and meet high transparency standards.

"And third, before anything becomes law, Congress gets the final say. The Constitution vests all legislative power in Congress. So TPA makes it clear that Congress—and only Congress—can change U.S. law. If the administration meets all the requirements, Congress will give the agreement an up-or-down vote. But if the administration fails, Congress can hit the brakes, cancel the vote and stop the agreement."

"TPA is not a way to unleash the president; it is a way to constrain congressional Democrats, whose hostility toward more open international trade is partly ideological and partly self-serving. That free trade is generally good for the country does not mean, of course, that every proposed trade pact is desirable. With TPA, Republicans can kill a bad deal; without it, they have effectively no chance of endorsing a good one."

"Some on the right oppose it because they don’t trust the president and his history of executive overreach. Well, I don’t trust him either. That’s why I support this bill. Without it, he can negotiate anything he wants. Trade Promotion Authority binds him to the will of Congress before the agreement is reached. If and only if he meets Congress’ objectives, will Congress then agree, not necessarily to pass the agreement, but only to vote on it after the American people have had their say.

"I’m particularly concerned about illegal immigration. This bill forbids the president from making any changes to our laws, including our immigration laws."

• Wall Street Journal Editorial board: "A Lift for Free Trade"
• The American Enterprise Institute: "TPA Hits the Right Notes"
• Larry Kudlow: "Free Trade with Asia Will Juice the Economy"
• CATO Institute: "TPA Is Not an Executive Power Grab"