DATE=3/2/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA / U-S / W-T-O (L-O)
NUMBER=2-259788
BYLINE=LETA HONG FINCHER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Top trade union leaders in the United States
have urged Congress to defeat legislation that would
pave the way for China's entry to the World Trade
Organization. As V-O-A's Leta Hong Fincher reports,
their opposition comes at a time when lawmakers are
deeply divided over the trade agreement.
TEXT: Leaders of the most powerful trade unions in the
United States spoke out Thursday against the landmark
U-S trade deal with China. James Hoffa of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters said at a
Washington news conference that the deal would betray
American workers as well as workers in China.
/// HOFFA ACT ///
We refuse to sit on the sidelines while the
gains our members have made at the bargaining
table are jeopardized by the inevitable race to
the bottom that will occur when profit-hungry
multinational corporations are encouraged to
invest in a country as repressive as communist
China, a country that brutalizes its own
citizens.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Hoffa was joined by other high-profile labor
leaders from such unions as the AFL-CIO and the
Transport Workers Union. Their statements came amidst
signs that Democrats in the U-S House of
Representatives are particularly opposed to the trade
deal. Representative Nancy Pelosi spoke for many of
them when she said that the Clinton administration's
policy of engagement with China had done nothing to
curb what she called that country's gross human rights
violations.
/// PELOSI ACT ///
How much worse does the political repression
have to become? How many more weapons of mass
destruction does the Chinese government have to
export to rogue countries for our government to
get a clue that their policy is a drastic
failure.
/// END ACT ///
According to a key member of the Democratic
leadership, Representative David Bonior, nearly two-
thirds of Democrats in the House of Representatives
will oppose passage of the bill to grant China
permanent normal trading relations. Although another
poll of U-S senators suggests they would support the
deal, it must pass both the House and the Senate in
order to become law.
A key figure in the upcoming congressional vote is
Vice President Al Gore. He is depending heavily on
the support of labor leaders to win the presidential
nomination. In his official role as Vice President in
the Clinton administration, he must support passage of
the trade deal with China. But Mr. Gore recently cast
doubt on his commitment to the deal when he promised
to add amendments on labor and the environment if he
became President. Those Democrats who have yet to
decide which way they're voting on the bill are
waiting for a clear signal from Mr. Gore.
At a Senate hearing Thursday, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright reaffirmed the administration's
support for permanent normal trading relations for
China, or permanent N-T-R.
/// ALBRIGHT ACT ///
We believe that permanent N-T-R is important.
They have access to our market. We want to have
access to theirs and we think that the W-T-O
deal that was negotiated very painstakingly is
good for U-S exports and for our workers and for
farm interests.
/// END ACT ///
So far, no date has been set for the votes in the
House or the Senate. But the White House says it
hopes to get approval of the trade agreement before
June, when presidential campaign fever will be at its
peak. (Signed)
NEB/LHF/ENE/gm
02-Mar-2000 17:37 PM EDT (02-Mar-2000 2237 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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