Some congressional Democrats panned at least one section of President Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday: his call for Capitol Hill to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Most Democrats sat silent during that section. The call received a warmer, but not overwhelming, response from Republicans, indicating that passage in Congress may be a tough fight for the administration.
The comments came about midway through the speech. Obama pointed to the agreement, which would remove tariffs and other trade barriers among the U.S., Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations, as proof of his administration’s efforts to “mobilize the world to work with us.”
“That’s how we forged a Trans-Pacific Partnership to open markets, protect workers and the environment and advance American leadership in Asia. It cuts 18,000 taxes on products made in America and supports more good jobs. With TPP, China doesn’t set the rules in that region, we do. You want to show our strength in this century? Approve this agreement. Give us the tools to enforce it,” he said.
The deal, which is expected to come before Congress after the November elections, has drawn staunch opposition from Democrats who argue that it would benefit corporations at the expense of workers.
“We’re going to keep fighting to #StopTPP and ensure that we support every American worker. They deserve no less. #SOTU,” tweeted Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, issued a press release that said, in part: “Northern Ohio cannot afford another trade deal like the TPP that will outsource more good jobs to undemocratic regimes.”
Rep. Pete DeFazio, D-Ore., invited as his guest to the speech an Oregon mill worker named Steve Phillips, whom he said had “been laid off three times because of the catastrophic impact of failed trade policies.”
“In my nearly 30 years representing Oregon in Congress, I have voted against every so-called ‘free’ trade agreement that has come before Congress. I will continue to fight against the TPP and will push for a trade policy that values skilled laborers like Steve Phillips and protects American small businesses and manufacturing,” DeFazio said.
