Pelosi had the trade deal press conference without filling in labor voices in the caucus. [View All]

[madfloridian]

Looks like the free traders were the ones who got access and got included in the discussions. Pelosi had the press conference before filling in many of her party members.

Agreements Reached on Trade Deals

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, said the agreement signaled "a giant step forward" in advancing U.S. economic interests without sacrificing American workers and the environment.

The new policy will apply immediately to pending free trade agreements with Peru and Panama. It will also become a part of trade accords with South Korea and Colombia, although lawmakers said other issues, such as violence in Colombia, must be dealt with before Congress can consider those agreements.

...But a half-dozen House Democrats with strong labor ties, watching the news conference from the back of the room, later expressed strong dissatisfaction with the process. The strongest voices for workers and the environment were not included" in the negotiations and were not informed of the deal, said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.

..."I'm very disappointed that Speaker Pelosi held a press conference before meeting with the caucus," said Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine. "In a democratic process Democrats ought to know."

MyDD has a couple of posts up today covering this issue.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/5/10/204049/602

Update <2007-5-10 20:50:58 by Matt Stoller>:: Here's the key deal-breaker from Donahue: "However, we are encouraged by assurances that the labor provisions cannot be read to require compliance with ILO Conventions."

The whole point of this deal is that it includes ILO standards. Baucus and Rangel look like fools.

And another post by Matt:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/5/10/20281/6889

Well this is interesting. On the day of a massive series of votes on Iraq and the day after a DoD Authorization mark-up in which habeas was struck, there's a huge press conference announcing a bipartisan free trade deal with increased labor and environmental standards. Labor is flipping out, apparently unsure of what to do. I've made three or four calls and the details are somewhat murky. One person I spoke with was Peter Chandler of Congressman Mike Michaud's office. Michaud signed a letter that someone else slipped to me from six Democrats (the others are Allen, Ryan, Kildee, Hare, Linda Sanchez) asking for an internal caucus discussion of an impending deal. Forty minutes after they sent this letter came the press conference.

...." Peter told me that no one except the people in the room had seen the language, so the caucus at large is not ok with it yet.He's suspicious because a big announcement is made suddenly with the Republican leadership on Ways and Means, and Democratic caucus members have very little information about it.

Apparently, though others were in the room in the back...they were not part of nor were they aware of the presentation. Here's who was announcing it.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus
House Ways & Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel
House Ways & Means Ranking Member Jim McCrery
New Democrat Coalition Leadership:
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, Chair, New Democrat Coalition
Rep. Adam Smith. Vice-Chair, New Democrat Coalition
Rep. Ron Kind, Vice-Chair, New Democrat Coaltion
Rep. Artur Davis, Vice-Chair, New Democrat Coalition
Rep. Joe Crowley, Vice-Chair and Whip, New Democrat Coaltion

That is not how our party should be slipping through trade bills.

We felt like labor was being shut out when Robert Rubin was given free rein to advise the freshmen congress people.

Robert Rubin gets the floor to himself to talk to new Congress folks.