MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Fast Track, Human Rights, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

SCHULTZ: ....For more, let me bring in Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, also
with us tonight, Larry Cohen, President of the Communication Workers of
America.

Congresswoman, you first, great to have you with us tonight. What do you
make of these agreements that were struck in committee today? What does
this mean? Is this just a step forward?

REP. ROSA DELAURO, (D) CONNECTICUT: Let me just say this, Ed, and I think
you`ll appreciate this as well as Larry Cohen will, that I`d like to quote
really a good friend of all of ours and that was Governor Ann Richards when
she says, "You can put lipstick and earrings on a pig, call it Monique, but
it is still a pig."

This agreement today really is what fast-track was all about in 2014, and
when it arrived in Congress, it would dead-on-arrival, and it will be
continued to be opposed in this Congress as well.

We got laid out negotiating objectives that are not enforceable in any way.
You take a look at currency -- Larry will comment on this, I`m sure as
well. They`d say that we should avoid currency manipulation.

Think about that (inaudible) what does that mean? There is no prohibition,
and indeed, this treaty has been in the making for five years, and we
know...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DELAURO: ... and we`ve been told that there will be no currency chapter in
it, and currency is directly related to lost of job, depression of wages
and the data is overwhelming and they will not address it in this...

SCHULTZ: OK.

DELAURO: ... fast-track bill.

SCHULTZ: Apparently, in the Senate Finance Committee today, Ron Wyden is
saying that they have agreed on this provision, a change in the human
rights that there will be some human rights provisions in here.

I don`t know how you`re going to enforce that, I don`t know. -- you`re
trusting other nations. Larry, what do you make of this?

LARRY COHEN, COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICAN: I think there`s no
enforcement. I was in Mexico last week with progressive groups including
independent unionist. They haven`t been talked to at all.

So this notion that somehow, we will wheel it through words in a chapter
when the countries involved, whether it`s Vietnam or none of that
challenging groups are involved or whether it`s Mexico where a conditions
for workers continue to get worst.

It`s impossible. And we`ve had no enforcement before. We get reports.

I was in Honduras. We got a nice report on Honduras. Three years after,
the complaints were filed. Guatemala, six years later, and then, Mr.
Frohman meets with those governments.

Meanwhile, corporations get the right to sue, and get billions of dollars.
So it`s not any better. It`s just better words in some ways but the end
result is exactly the same. Citizens get nothing.

DELAURO: Well, I would just add...

SCHULTZ: Are there enough votes...

DELAURO: Ed...

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman...

DELAURO: Let me just.

SCHULTZ: Wait a minute. Ho, ho, ho (ph).

DELAURO: Sure.

SCHULTZ: Well, Congresswoman, I want to know. Are there enough votes in
the House to pass fast-track because in the Senate...

DELAURO: We`re not going to pass fast-track. We are going to be defeat...

SCHULTZ: ... a lot of deals could be made?

DELAURO: We are going to defeat fast-track in the House of Representative.
There is opposition to it and with regard to the human rights issue that
you just talked about, again, those...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DELAURO: ... objectives say, we need to promote human rights.

We`re going to promote human rights. What does promote mean?

As Larry pointed out, no enforceability, there hasn`t been in the past. He
cited the cases. We are going to be engaged with the country of Brunei who
follows Sharia law which flags (ph) women, stones women, and lesbians and
gays.

Is that the kind of human rights...

SCHULTZ: OK.

DELAURO: ... that we want to promote through our trade agreements? No.

SCHULTZ: All right. Larry Cohen, does Hillary Clinton`s silence on TPP
trouble you?

COHEN: It does trouble me. I think she has to speak out because unlike
other policy issues that depend on the Congress like reducing student debt,
the President, the executive branch initiates the trade issues. They
initiate to negotiate in secret deals like TPP.

So the critical area in terms of action for a presidential candidate is
what will you do on trade? And we would say to candidate Clinton now,
where do you stand on things like investor state dispute settlement?

It`s easy enough for you to say, I see countries around the world coming at
against it from Germany, to Bolivia, to Brazil, I don`t believe in that
anymore, it`s a 28th century version. Let`s create a new paradigm and as
President, I will do it.

That`s why I think it`s so important. The rest of these things can be
rhetoric about what I want the Congress to do that they`ll never do. This
is what the executive branch does.

She needs to say no fast-track...

SCHULTZ: All right.

COHEN: ... no investor state.

SCHULTZ: And a lot of activism on Capitol Hill. Let`s see if it has an
effect.

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and also Larry Cohen, good to have you on the Ed
Show, I appreciate the conversation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source