[CTC] Lawmakers: Green, labor protections in TPP don’t live up to hype

[Arthur Stamoulis]

https://www.politicopro.com/story/trade/?id=48224 <https://www.politicopro.com/story/trade/?id=48224>
 
Lawmakers: Green, labor protections in TPP don’t live up to hype
 
Politico
By Adam Behsudi
June 2, 2015
 
The distance between the Obama administration’s promises about the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s environmental standards and what the trade deal might actually deliver is growing, a Democratic House member said Tuesday.

“My hands are tied by this confidentiality agreement … but I can tell you what’s not in it is the claim that it’s the strongest environmental provision,” said Texas lawmaker Lloyd Doggett, one of the strongest critics of the deal’s lack of transparency, during rally outside the AFL-CIO’s headquarters.

Doggett stood in the drizzle Tuesday morning with labor leaders and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who has been spearheading the fight against legislation to expedite passage of the TPP, to call for the release of the text. Above them, a huge banner <https://twitter.com/AFLCIO/status/605754716136554496/photo/1> blanketing the building demanded the White House “Show us the text! Show us the jobs!”

A U.S. official countered Doggett’s assertions.

“Rep. Doggett is wrong, and thankfully, no one will have to rely on his claims,” the official said, alluding to a provision in the fast-track bill that would require the release of the text for at least 60 days before President Barack Obama signs the deal. “That’s because, as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has noted, everyone will get a chance to read the agreement. In fact, the high-standards that are being negotiated in TPP will be online for many months for all to review before a vote is ever taken.”

WikiLeaks announced <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNsHAHQh4Es> earlier Tuesday that it was trying to drum up a $100,000 reward for the remaining chapters of the TPP, which the administration is selling as the greenest and most labor-friendly agreement in history. The White House says tough new environmental and worker protections will be fully enforceable under a dispute settlement process, but it has long argued that releasing the text publicly could undermine its position at the negotiating table.

Members of Congress are allowed to see the negotiating text, but they may only view it in a secure room and can’t make copies other than handwritten notes, among other restrictions.

WikiLeaks posted a leaked copy of the environmental chapter <https://wikileaks.org/tpp-enviro/pressrelease.html> last year that showed that despite the White House’s claims, the administration was struggling to gain enforceable commitments from other countries on international environmental agreements, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Doggett said he disagreed “totally” with WikiLeaks’ tactics, but he noted that the TPP text is not classified and therefore doesn’t require secretive handling.

“It’s only confidential to the extent that Ambassador [Michael] Froman wants it to be confidential,” he said, referring to the U.S. trade representative.

Doggett isn’t the only House member to counter the White House’s assertions after reviewing the document.

Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said in floor speech <https://www.politicopro.com/f/?f=38375&inb> late last month that a final deal may lack the environmental and labor safeguards the White House is promising.

“Words like ‘endeavor’ and ‘take steps to’ are not going to lead to the revolutionary changes we have been told to expect,” Levin said.

The criticisms come as Obama pitches undecided Democrats on the fast-track bill, which would allow Obama to submit the TPP and other trade deals to Congress for up-or-down votes without amendments. The legislation, which has already passed the Senate, is expected to come up in the House next week.

The AFL-CIO is working to make its positions known to House members before they take up the bill. The labor federation released a report Tuesday detailing how the administration’s Labor Advisory Committee is undercut by U.S. officials not sharing updated negotiating texts on a continuing basis. Labor leaders on the panel have clearance to see U.S. proposals, but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in the report <https://www.politicopro.com/f/?f=38630&inb>, obtained by POLITICO last Friday, that U.S. officials provide little detail on what is actually being negotiated.

USTR spokesman Matthew McAlvanah said the administration has sought to keep labor informed on the talks, having two-dozen union leaders serve on advisory committees, including those previously excluded to industry.

“Collectively, USTR officials have spent hundreds of hours meeting with labor advisers,” he said. “Labor’s voice has had an important impact on TPP, but, as with any other stakeholder, they have not achieved every demand that they sought to impose.”

The AFL-CIO also has asked the White House to give House members a report from September detailing the AFL-CIO’s stance on proposals in the trade deal. The group was unable to get the document, which references confidential material, to Senate members before they voted on the fast-track legislation, saying the administration didn’t clear the report in time.

The labor federation circulated a copy to the press at the rally, but to make its point, every word was blacked out.

“Instead of sunlight we have black magic marker,” the group’s Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler said. “This is not transparency.”

 
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