Hatch: "it can take years to get [a trade] agreement through Congress AFTER it is signed"

Some cold water from Senator Orrin Hatch:

Long story short, Mr. President, no one should be under any illusions that, because the TPP is being signed today, an up or down vote on the agreement is imminent or that our oversight responsibilities are at an end.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that this process can, and often does, take a very long time to complete.  In fact, it’s not an exaggeration – or even all that remarkable – to say that it can take years to get an agreement through Congress AFTER it is signed.