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Business Leaders Gear Up Lobbying and Ad Campaign for `Fast-Track' Bill
===== Comments by MDOLAN@CITIZEN (MDOLAN) at 9/19/97 8:37 am
TO TW-LIST RECIPIENTS
1) I realize that you recently received a flurry of posts after a hiatus of
several days. Well, sometimes "servers" stop serving for technical reasons,
and that's what happened.
2) The transnational corporate lobby is well-heeled -- we all know that --
but the national Citizens Trade Campaign and its allies have cornered the
market on people power and we seem to be winning this historic debate. Stay
tuned...
>
>> Business Leaders Gear Up Lobbying and Ad
>> Campaign for `Fast-Track' Bill
>>
>> By Terry M. Neal
>> Washington Post Staff Writer
>> Friday, September 19, 1997; Page A04
>> The Washington Post
>>
>> To counter a fierce lobbying effort by
>> organized labor, business leaders are planning
>> to spend at least $2 million on an air and land
>> war to persuade Congress to broaden President
>> Clinton's trade negotiating powers.
>>
>> But even as the advertising campaign began
>> yesterday, coalition members acknowledged they
>> were playing catch-up to the union forces that
>> vehemently oppose the measure. Some members of
>> Congress who support "fast-track" authority for
>> the president expressed concern yesterday that
>> the business lobby had fallen dangerously
>> behind the curve on an issue that could be
>> decided by a handful of votes.
>>
>> "Most of the members are saying they haven't
>> heard anything from business," said Rep. Robert
>> T. Matsui (D-Calif.), a fast-track supporter
>> and ranking member of the Ways and Means
>> Committee, where the bill has been assigned for
>> markup. "Then you wonder: How much does the
>> business community wants fast track? How
>> important is it to them?"
>>
>> Fast track empowers the president to negotiate
>> international trade agreements that Congress
>> cannot amend, only vote up or down. The battle
>> is largely between organized labor on one side
>> and Clinton and big business on the other.
>>
>> America Leads on Trade, a coalition formed to
>> lobby for the authority, insists the issue is a
>> top priority for business. The group plans a
>> television campaign in about 30 targeted
>> markets across the country as well as a
>> grass-roots effort.
>>
>> At a news conference Wednesday, James T.
>> Christie, chairman of the 543-member coalition,
>> refused to divulge how much it is spending and
>> which congressional districts it is targeting.
>> But yesterday a coalition official revealed the
>> $2 million figure and said more resources would
>> be readily available if necessary.
>>
>> "The philosophy of America Leads on Trade is,
>> we're going to match dollar for dollar what the
>> opposition spends," said the official, who
>> requested anonymity. "We are keeping close tabs
>> on the opposition and are monitoring what they
>> do. And we are flexible to respond to their
>> advertising buys."
>>
>> On Tuesday, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney
>> announced a multimillion-dollar television and
>> radio campaign, initially aimed at 13
>> congressional districts and the entire state of
>> California. The targeted members are undecided
>> on the issue, and most won their seats by small
>> margins and come from areas with a strong labor
>> presence. The ads provide a toll-free number
>> for constituents to call their lawmakers.
>>
>> AFL-CIO officials said the media campaign would
>> cost $1 million in the first week alone.
>> Legislative director Peggy Taylor said: "The
>> dollar for dollar doesn't matter. We have the
>> ability to mobilize tens of thousands of
>> working families in states and congressional
>> districts all over the country."
>>
>> Unlike big business, organized labor has been
>> active for months, personally lobbying members
>> and coordinating grass-roots efforts in
>> members' districts. The business lobby has been
>> particularly deficient in making personal
>> contacts on Capitol Hill, sources there said.
>>
>> "They need to get out of their offices
>> downtown, go to the Hill and wear down some
>> shoe leather," said a Democratic staff member
>> who specializes in trade issues.
>>
>> Johanna Schneider, a spokeswoman for the
>> Business Roundtable, said there is a good
>> explanation: Business leaders decided to hold
>> off intense lobbying until they could see
>> Clinton's bill. That bill was released Tuesday
>> after several delays.
>>
>> She noted that the Roundtable -- a key member
>> of America Leads on Trade -- sent two dozen
>> CEOs of large companies to lobby on the Hill
>> earlier this month.
>>
>> Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S.
>> Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged that labor is
>> riding high from the successful strike against
>> UPS, but vowed that big business will not be a
>> patsy.
>>
>> "These guys [labor] play political hardball,
>> and they have staked their political reputation
>> on it [fast track]," Donohue said. "So you are
>> going to get one hell of a fight here."
>>
>> The America Leads on Trade source said the
>> television campaign is targeted at 103
>> congressional districts -- 35 Democrats and 68
>> Republicans. Television ads started running in
>> the D.C. area yesterday. They will begin today
>> in markets including Seattle, Denver, Phoenix,
>> Dallas, Los Angeles, Tampa and Jackson, Miss.
>>
>> Forty-eight other Democrats have been targeted
>> for grass-roots lobbying. Business officials,
>> elected leaders and others from their districts
>> will be calling members to urge support for
>> fast track.
>>
>> Some members of Congress have been caught in
>> the cross-fire. Among those with opposing
>> television ads running in their districts:
>> Reps. David E. Skaggs (D-Colo.), Phil English
>> (R-Pa.) and Thomas C. Sawyer (D-Ohio).
>>
>> Skaggs said his office had received 57 phone
>> calls from both sides on the issue in the last
>> two days. He said he will announce his position
>> today at a news conference in his district.
>>
>> "I don't know that this is the heaviest
>> lobbying I've seen in my 11 years here," Skaggs
>> said. "But I think it would be fair to say this
>> is the heaviest full-court press this year."
>>
>> Staff writer Steven Pearlstein contributed to
>> this report.
>>