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Freshmen to meet with Rangel, who is pressured to win concessions from Bush administration |
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By Ian Swanson
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Posted: 03/05/07 08:05 PM [ET] |
Freshman Democrats seeking a direct role in congressional trade policy have won a meeting this week with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.).
No freshmen sit on the prestigious Ways and Means Committee, which oversees trade policy, but class members pressed for a role in trade in a Jan. 17 letter to Rangel that said opposition to the Bush administration’s trade policies had been “vital to our electoral successes.”
A spokesman for freshman Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio), a former labor lawyer who has led the freshman efforts, said the meeting was scheduled with the hope that all 39 Democrats who signed the Jan. 17 letter would be able to attend. Spokesman Linden Zakula described the meeting as a positive step and said Sutton was optimistic it would be constructive.
The meeting with the freshmen is the latest sign of the pressure Rangel is under from members of his own caucus to win concessions from the Bush administration on trade that go beyond talks on the labor provisions of pending trade deals, which have dominated the debate.
For example, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is preparing a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab demanding changes to provisions affecting generic drugs in the pending Colombia and Peru free-trade deals. He sees the pending free-trade agreements (FTAs) as setting up hurdles to poor countries accessing generic drugs.
Several House aides described the labor talks as only a starting point if the administration wants to move any free-trade deals through Congress. “If they want to be able to pass FTAs in this Congress, USTR will have to open their eyes to other issues,” one House aide said.
Reps. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Tom Allen (D-Maine) are also circulating a letter to Rangel and trade subcommittee Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) asking for changes to the environmental chapter of the Peru deal. They say safeguards must be included in the agreement to prevent oil exploration, logging and other activities from threatening endangered plant and animal species in Peru.
Separately, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), a leading Democratic voice on Iraq and a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), has called for changes to the Peru FTA intended to prevent enterprises there from investing in U.S. landside port activities.
Privately, representatives of organized labor, environmental organizations and advocacy groups have been wary that Rangel may be cornering himself by emphasizing the labor talks with the administration. If a deal on labor is reached, the administration could charge that Democrats are moving the goalposts if they demand other changes.
Partly because of the activity from other members, some activists are feeling confident that trade deals will have to include more than changes to labor to pass muster with Rangel.
“I would say we’re cautiously optimistic that he’s ready to take on the environmental issues,” David Waskow of Friends of the Earth said of Rangel. At the same time, Waskow added, “It would be helpful for those issues to be addressed in a more public way by Rangel.”
The pressure comes at a critical time for the Bush administration, which has been negotiating with Rangel over the labor standards that should be included in pending FTAs with Peru and Colombia. The administration, with some input from Ways and Means ranking member Jim McCrery (R-La.), came forward with a proposal last week, but Democrats initially indicated it was insufficient.
If the administration cannot reach an agreement with Rangel by the end of this month, it also could make it more difficult for USTR to conclude negotiations with Korea on a deal that could be submitted to Congress under fast track. The Korean FTA talks must be concluded by the end of the month to be submitted under fast track. |
