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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor and Environmental Groups Fight GOP-Sponsored Fast Track Trade Bill |
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by Interview by Between The Lines' Scott Harris
Email: betweenthelines (nospam) snet.net (unverified!)
Address: ©2001 Between the Lines C/O WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, Connecticut USA. |
20 Oct 2001
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Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Thea Lee, chief international economist with the AFL-CIO, who discusses the campaign to defeat Fast Track trade legislation now being considered in the House of Representatives. |
Labor and Environmental Groups Fight GOP-Sponsored Fast Track Trade Bill
Interview by Between The Lines' Scott Harris
Before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Bush administration's drive to pass a "Trade Promotion Authority" bill was in trouble. The legislation, formerly known as "Fast Track," would grant the president authority to negotiate future international trade deals with minimal debate in Congress and no chance for legislators to propose corrective amendments. But in the days following the assaults on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Bush administration trade representative Robert Zoellick renewed the fight on fast track by tying support for free trade with the fight against terrorism. Labor leaders, including AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumpka, condemned the attempt to link passage of fast track to patriotism.
Fast Track was defeated by a progressive coalition led by the AFL-CIO when president Clinton tried to win Congressional approval in 1997. Then, as now, a broad coalition of groups including family farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists have joined with labor to oppose Fast Track. If approved, the Fast Track process would enable the White House to expedite approval of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty or FTAA. FTAA, like the North American Free Trade Agreement, has been criticized for the lack of labor or environmental standards and the power it surrenders to corporations.
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Thea Lee, chief international economist with the AFL-CIO, who discusses the campaign to defeat Fast Track trade legislation now being considered in the House of Representatives(A RealAudio Version of this interview may be found At http://www.btlonline.org).
Contact the AFL-CIO by calling (202) 637-5000 or visit their Web site at www.aflcio.org
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http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/btl102601.html
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