Hillary Clinton said she would vote against the “Fast Track” trade bill passed by the House on Thursday if she were still in the Senate, unless she was “absolutely confident” trade adjustment assistance would be provided.
Clinton’s comment that she would not approve “Fast Track,” which is a tool for negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, came during an interview with Jon Ralston on Thursday night, following her appearance at the NALEO conference in Las Vegas, Nev.
“At this point, probably not because it’s a process vote and I don’t want to say it’s the same as TPP,” Clinton said. “Right now, I’m focused on making sure we get trade adjustment assistance and I certainly would not vote for it unless I were absolutely confident we would get trade adjustment assistance.”
On Thursday, the House passed legislation giving Obama “Fast Track” authority to negotiate the 12-nation trade deal known as TPP. The congressionally approved legislation does not include trade adjustment assistance, or TAA, which would help workers who may be displaced or out of work because of a trade agreement. The bill was only passed by a 10-vote margin, and will not be approved until the Senate votes on it next week.
This is the first time Clinton has taken a hard stance on the issue of trade, as she has avoided it in the past on the campaign trail.
When Ralston asked Clinton if she believed Obama has mishandled the trade agreement, Clinton was quick to defend Obama. “No, I think the president has a hard hand to play and he’s done was well as he could given the demands from these other countries,” she said.
“If we could get the right kind of agreement that was good for workers, good for wages, good for the environment, labor, safety, health and good for our national security, that would be great for America,” Clinton said. “Let’s do more to enforce decent labor standards so our workers are not at a disadvantage.”
