Lobbyists Follow Lawmakers Home

[MDOLAN <mdolan@citizen.org>]

  > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  >
  >                     Lobbyists Follow Lawmakers Home
  >
  > (October 10, 12:39 am)
  >
  > WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of Congress are headed home for a 10-day
  > break, with business and labor lobbyists hot on their heels. The
  > issue: whether to give President Clinton additional powers to
  > negotiate international trade agreements.
  >
  > Makers of everything from paint to pantyhose want Congress to equip
  > Clinton with so-called "fast-track" authority so he can forge new
  > trade partnerships around the world. But with Congress set to adjourn
  > for the year in early November, time is running out.
  >
  > "We're playing beat the clock - that's my concern," said Bruce Josten,
  > a lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
  >
  > So far, the political battleground has been dominated by organized
  > labor, which began stirring up opposition last spring.
  >
  > Using plant meetings, mass mailings and up to $2 million worth of
  > radio and television ads, labor has cast the issue as one that would
  > erode the job security of U.S. workers.
  >
  > The message has been reinforced by environmental groups, which say
  > trade deals should carry safeguards against other countries cutting
  > manufacturing costs by damaging the environment.
  >
  > Manufacturers, financial services companies, farm groups and high-tech
  > firms - more than 500 corporations and associations in all - have
  > formed an alliance to restore the president's fast-track authority,
  > which lapsed in 1994. Such authority grants the president the right to
  > a speedy congressional vote on trade agreements he negotiates, without
  > amendments.
  >
  > The alliance, America Leads on Trade, has recruited industries in each
  > state to get lawmakers' attention. Farm groups are approaching
  > Southerners, for example, while electronics companies are at work in
  > high-tech states such as California and Massachusetts.
  >
  > TRW, a company that makes auto air bags and other technology products,
  > invited Rep. Glenn Poshard, D-Ill., to visit its electronics plant in
  > Marshall, Ill., to hear how export growth has led to new jobs. Dozens
  > of similar visits have been arranged by Procter & Gamble, Boeing,
  > Caterpillar and General Motors.
  >
  > Chief executives from two dozen firms spread out across Capitol Hill
  > last month to visit lawmakers, along with 150 Procter & Gamble plant
  > managers.
  >
  > Constituents of more than 100 House members have been hearing radio
  > and television spots touting the virtues of free trade, part of a
  > campaign that could cost $3 million or more.
  >
  > The group also has hired inside-the-Beltway help such as Anne Wexler,
  > the lobbyist who helped guide the North American Free Trade Agreement
  > through Congress in 1993. Republican lobbyist Nick Calio and Democrat
  > Steve Champlin have been hired for their contacts in the congressional
  > leadership. The firm of Democratic fund-raiser Dan Dutko is generating
  > support among the nation's governors.
  >
  > "We will be as competitive as we need to be," said Jim Christy, the
  > TRW lobbyist who heads the coalition. "We will not let our message be
  > overwhelmed."
  >
  > Business faces several obstacles that complicate the current trade
  > fight. It is overshadowed by the disappointing results of NAFTA, which
  > business lobbyists now admit was oversold.
  >
  > In the House, where the crucial vote will come, many newer lawmakers
  > have never had to cast a major trade vote and their views are unknown.
  > Business lobbyists fear that even Republicans, normally friendly to
  > trade deals, see little political benefit back home in the fast-track
  > vote.
  >
  > In addition, organized labor has waged the more emotional fight. That
  > is conveyed in letters written by union members - as many as 1,600 to
  > some congressional offices - and in the threat of financial reprisals
  > against lawmakers who vote the wrong way.
  >
  > "This is an issue of reward and punishment" for labor unions, said
  > Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who is helping count scarce Democratic votes
  > for the pro-fast track side. "Members who vote against them will be
  > punished," a threat made more real by the specter of last year's $35
  > million union spending on elections.
  >
  > The business coalition hopes that Congress' free-trade philosophy,
  > demonstrated in votes over the past several years on NAFTA, the
  > General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and most-favored-nation trade
  > status for China, will prevail. The coalition also hopes that
  > Clinton's ability to dole out rewards in exchange for votes will
  > clinch the deal.
  >
  > "As we near the House vote, the politics of this will become
  > increasingly retail," Christy said with a smile.
  ===== Comments by MDOLAN@CITIZEN (MDOLAN) at 10/10/97 7:24 am
  When the lawmakers get home (followed by the corporate lobbyists),
  they will be met by the Fair Trade activists of the Citizens Trade Camaign.
  PLEASE prepare for the final noisy push.  If you have any questions about 
  who
  are the 'undecided' members of your congressional delegation, call me,
  Mike Dolan, at 202-546-4996.
  
  
  
  ****************************************************************************
   /s/ Mike Dolan, Field Director, Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen
  
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