May 22, 2007 6:48 AM

SECRET TRADE DEAL - DAY 12: Rangel Contradicts Himself on Fast Track, Contradicts White House on Standards

This is another in a series of ongoing posts following the announcement of a secret free trade deal on May 10, 2007 between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush administration.

Over the course of the last four days, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has both contradicted himself, and contradicted the White House officials he cut the secret trade deal with. He has now told one television program that the deal helps pave the way for the approval of President Bush's request to reauthorize fast track authority, and then told another television program that he doesn't believe fast track authority will be renewed. He has also said that the White House has agreed to put much-touted labor and environmental standards in the core text of trade agreements, even as the White House has confirmed that it is exploring ways to relegate such provisions to unenforceable "side agreements" or "letters of understanding." Meanwhile, two top U.S. Senators have delivered scathing floor speeches raising new questions about the secret deal. Here is today's full report.

RANGEL SAYS DEAL "MAKES THE PATH EASIER" FOR FAST TRACK: Though unreported by any media outlet, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) told PBS on Friday that the secret trade deal he engineered with the Bush White House increases the chances for renewal of presidential fast track authority - the authority that allows presidents to strip all labor, human rights and environmental provisions out of trade deals. He was specifically asked about the "confusion" over the deal's implications for fast track, and responded by saying, "No confusion, it makes the path easier." This seems to contradict Rangel's statements on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight yesterday evening. Dobbs asked Rangel whether fast track will be renewed, and Rangel responded by saying "I think not" - an apparent reversal of his statement to PBS just a few days before. Yet, he then tried to split the difference, leaving open the possibility of passing a temporary fast track renewal so that President Bush could negotiate at the Doha trade talks. Thus, to review: there appears now to be three distinctly different positions on fast track from House Democrats' top trade negotiator: 1) The deal is designed to "make the path easier" for fast track reauthorization 2) The deal will not help pass fast track reauthorization 3) temporary fast track reauthorization might be pushed.

RANGEL CONTRADICTS WHITE HOUSE, SAYS TRADE DEALS MUST BE RE-OPENED: In the same CNN interview with Lou Dobbs, Rangel publicly contradicted top Republican congressional leaders and the White House, who are saying the deal does not require them to put labor and environmental standards in the core text of trade agreements, and instead allows them to relegate those standards to unenforceable, NAFTA-esque "side agreements" or "letters of understanding." Rangel said, "That's 100 percent wrong...What we agreed to was really to labor and environment will be have to be put into the agreement." He insisted that "the government has agreed to open them up and put it in." Rangel's assertion runs counter to a report late last week from industry newsletter Inside U.S. Trade which confirmed that the Bush White House is "exploring ways" to finesse the deal "without reopening" the core text of trade agreements. The newsletter previously reported that congressional Democratic leaders have delegated responsibility for finalizing legislative language of the deal to the White House. Drafts of such legislative language have remained secret.

BROWN - "WINK & NOD DEAL ISN'T GOING TO FLY" AFTER ELECTION 2006: In a speech on the floor of the Senate last night, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) criticized the "backpedaling by the administration and sidestepping by supporters of the deal [that] indicate that we may be in for another round of more of the same in our trade policy." Brown said "voters in my State of Ohio and across the country sent a message loudly and clearly in November demanding a new direction, a very different direction for our Nation's trade policy." He cited reports noting that "the administration already has hinted at side deals for labor standards instead of putting those standards in the central, core part of the agreement." He said: "If that is the case, if these labor and environmental standards are not in the agreement but in a side letter of some sort, then really, frankly, nothing new is being offered. It is the same old jalopy with a new coat of paint." He continued: "What is even more disturbing about the new outline is it appears to rely in good faith on the administration to enforce standards...Given this administration's abysmal record on enforcement, relying on blind trust isn't just foolish, it is downright irresponsible...This same crowd sent a letter to the Jordan Trade Minister saying: We are not enforcing, we are not going to push you, we are not going to push you on dispute resolution to enforce those labor standards...There is simply the continuation of the exploitation of some of the poorest workers in the world in order to reap more profits and backdoor those products into the United States. If that is the Bush administration plan--forget what they talk about on labor standards, forget what they promise on environmental standards...then they will simply not get the support for these trade agreements. They will not get the support from those who talked about fair trade in their campaigns, not from small business owners, not from small manufacturers...If this administration thinks by simply saying: We are for labor standards, we are for environmental standards, we will put it in a little side letter here, and then a wink and a nod to their friends in the National Association of Manufacturers, a wink and a nod to the large corporations that benefit from slave labor and child labor, simply giving them a wink and a nod, if they think this Senate and the other body are going to pass this kind of legislation, they are wrong."

FEINGOLD - "FOXES & WOLVES REACHED A DEAL ON GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE": Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold (D) last week delivered a speech on the Senate floor where he said, "Given the parties that were involved, hearing the announcement was a bit like hearing that the foxes and wolves had reached a deal on guarding the hen house." He continued: "The people who were negotiating this agreement have a nearly unbroken record of supporting the deeply flawed trade policies of the past decade and more." Feingold then noted that ""because [the deal] was negotiated by people who largely supported the flawed trade agreements of recent years, it fails to address in a meaningful way the concerns of those who have opposed those same agreements." Specifically, he said that "it is noteworthy that while the announced agreement is primarily related to enhancing international worker standards, not a single union has endorsed it. While the agreement reportedly enhances international environmental standards, no environmental groups have endorsed it. Nor have those business groups that have been critical of our trade policies."

LEVIN SAYS NO RIFT WITH RANGEL ON TRADE DEFICITS: The Hill newspaper reports that "Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI) insisted this week that he and Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) are on the same page on how to deal with the trade deficit with China." The newspaper notes that "some sources with small businesses and labor groups pressing for congressional action on the China trade deficit have expressed worries that Rangel may want to head off tough China trade legislation opposed by Wall Street." These groups "believe Rangel’s decision last week to join other members in petitioning the administration for action on China could be a carefully orchestrated attempt — coordinated with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson — to contain congressional unease with Chinese economic policies." Ted Bush, who represents an association that is on the executive committee of the China Currency Coalition (CCC), said, "There’s a fear that Rangel has greater sympathy to Wall Street due to the proximity of his congressional district."