Squaring Off Over African Trade (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

                  Squaring Off Over African Trade
                  Jackson Bill's Challenge to Rangel's Measure Splits Black
                  Caucus

                  By Guy Gugliotta
                  Washington Post Staff Writer
                  Wednesday, February 24, 1999; Page A04 

                  Call it a fight in the family. Two of the high-profile
leaders of the
                  Congressional Black Caucus -- one young, one old -- have
introduced
                  competing African trade bills, giving instant energy to a
debate that has
                  languished for years on the legislative back burner.

                  When Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), the brash eldest
son of perhaps
                  the country's most visible black leader, announced his
HOPE for Africa
                  Act yesterday, he aimed it straight at Rep. Charles B.
Rangel (N.Y), the
                  ranking Democrat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

                  "I genuinely believe the course of this dialogue will be
a respectful one,"
                  Jackson told reporters, but he said that he would prefer
"no trade bill" for
                  Africa rather than Rangel's "African Growth and
Opportunity Act."

                  And Rangel, taking note of this, dismissed Jackson's bill
as a "political
                  statement" and said that when "Jesse says better to have
no bill than to
                  have my bill, it's difficult to compromise."

                  Yet while other caucus members agree that Rangel's bill
has a better
                  chance for passage than Jackson's -- which goes far
beyond trade --
                  neither is an odds-on favorite to be signed into law.

                  And if this is the case, say caucus members, let the
debate begin: "Having
                  these competing bills provides us with an unprecedented
opportunity," said
                  caucus Chairman James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.). "Why not talk
about them
                  both?" he added, and give African trade the kind of
political jolt it needs to
                  get into public consciousness.

                  For the caucus, which now has 38 members, an African
trade bill has been
                  a deeply desired but elusive goal for years. Rep. Donald
M. Payne
                  (D-N.J.), regarded as the caucus's foremost Africa
expert, has supported
                  the Rangel bill since 1993 as a measure that "starts to
put things in place,"
                  he said. "It's a step in the right direction."

                  Last year, with senior Ways and Means Republican Philip
M. Crane
                  (R-Ill.) as lead sponsor, the "Growth and Opportunity
Act" passed the
                  House by a vote of 233 to 186, with support from 141
Republicans and
                  92 Democrats. Key to its success was backing by the Clinton
                  administration and then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

                  The bill envisions quota-free and duty-free exports from
48 sub-Saharan
                  African countries -- including some of the world's
poorest nations -- for 10
                  years and encouraged plans to set up a U.S.-Africa free
trade zone. It was
                  aimed mostly at opening a multilateral trade regime where
none had
                  existed.

                  The bill was fiercely opposed by pro-labor Democrats
fearful of losing
                  jobs, and died in the Senate when opponents attached
unacceptable riders
                  to it. In the House, about one-third of the Black Caucus
opposed it,
                  including Jackson, who condemned it as a license for U.S.
multinationals to
                  exploit Africa's poor people. In a letter to Crane,
Jackson compared the
                  policy envisioned in the bill to slavery.

                  The measure announced by Jackson yesterday also establishes a
                  free-trade zone but adds provisions that would seek
forgiveness of the
                  more than $200 billion the African nations owe the United
States, private
                  banks and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
It would
                  also set standards for African labor and ownership for
corporations
                  participating in the agreement, restore foreign aid to
sub-Saharan Africa at
                  some $800 million per year and direct some of the aid
monies to be used
                  for AIDS research and control and environmental protection.

                  The bill evades the labor trap of the Rangel legislation
because Africa's
                  textile exports would come out of the quota assigned to
China, so there
                  would be no net volume gain -- or corresponding U.S. job
loss.

                  Rangel dismissed the measure as "an aid bill, not a trade
bill," and
                  suggested the quota reallocation was nothing but a
"political statement" to
                  placate labor unions.

                  But it won support from Clyburn, who has textile and
apparel workers in
                  his South Carolina district: "Why should I fall on my
sword?" for the
                  Rangel legislation, he said, when he is sure it will
again die in the Senate. In
                  the Jackson bill, he added, "the considerations I have
for textiles are going
                  to be dealt with." 

                           © Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company