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Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016/International trade
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 Bernie Sanders |
U.S. Senator (Assumed office: 2007) U.S. Representative (1991-2007) |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
| CANDIDATE SUMMARY | |
- In an op-ed on June 28, 2016, Sanders argued that although the “global economy is not working for the majority of people in our country and the world,” the solution to the problem is not electing Donald Trump or following the lead of those who supported the Brexit. Sanders wrote, “But we do not need change based on the demagogy, bigotry and anti-immigrant sentiment that punctuated so much of the Leave campaign’s rhetoric — and is central to Donald J. Trump’s message. The notion that Donald Trump could benefit from the same forces that gave the Leave proponents a majority in Britain should sound an alarm for the Democratic Party in the United States. Millions of American voters, like the Leave supporters, are understandably angry and frustrated by the economic forces that are destroying the middle class.” He then called for the Democratic Party to “stand with those who are struggling and who have been left behind. We must create national and global economies that work for all, not just a handful of billionaires.”[2]
- In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on October 6, 2015, Bernie Sanders explained why he believed most trade agreements were not beneficial to Americans. Sanders said, “I think if you look at the history of trade agreements, Chris, what you find, they are written by Wall Street. They are written by corporate America. They're written by the drug companies, written by – they have been, in my view, a disaster for the American worker."[3]
| RT America, "'I will fundamentally rewrite NAFTA' - Sanders rails against TPP & Trade Agreements," March 31, 2016. |
- In an op-ed published on July 8, 2016, Sanders urged the Democratic Party to include an amendment in the party's platform rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He wrote, "In my view, the trade deal would result in job losses in the United States, make the global race to the bottom even worse, harm the environment, undermine democracy and increase the price of prescription drugs for some of the poorest people in the world. This should not be controversial. It is the exact same position that Secretary Clinton and I have taken during the campaign, and opposition to the TPP is the position of the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Congress. One of the major reasons why the middle class has been in a 40-year decline: poverty has been increasing and the gap between the very rich and everyone else has been growing wider and wider due to our disastrous trade policies. You do not need a Ph.D. in economics to understand that our trade agreements have failed."[4]
- On July 5, 2016, Sanders' campaign sent the following tweets opposing the TPP: "It is clear that we need to fundamentally reject our 'free trade' policies and move to fair trade... #StopTPPNow. ... A disastrous trade agreement should not be 'fast-tracked' for a vote on Congress. In fact, it should never be brought to a vote. #StopTPPNow. ... We don't need more unfettered free trade deals that outsource millions of jobs and shut down tens of thousands of factories. #StopTPPNow."[5]
- On July 3, 2016, Sanders tweeted, "On the TPP, we must take the side of unions and environmental groups who oppose it, not multinational corporations trying to outsource jobs."[6]
- On June 27, 2016, The Hill reported that Sanders “is urging Democrats to oppose holding a vote on” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and “wants the party's platform to make its opposition clear” on the deal. Sanders said, “The Democratic Party must go on record in opposition to holding a vote on the trade deal during the lame-duck session of Congress and beyond. … During the next days and weeks we will reach out to a large grassroots movement of working people, environmentalists, human rights advocates and religious groups to support an amendment to the platform in strong opposition to the TPP. If we succeed, we will be in a very strong position to stop a vote and to fundamentally rewrite our trade agreements in order to end the race to the bottom and to lift up the living standards of people in this country and throughout the world.”[7]
- On June 6, 2016, Sanders tweeted the following in support of more than 450 environmental groups opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): “We must stop letting multinational fossil fuels corporations rig the system to pad their profits at our expense.”[8]
- After Hillary Clinton said that she supported tougher trade rules to protect auto industry workers during a March 12, 2016, rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Sanders said, "Now she says she wants to make it tougher for automobiles to be imported to this country under the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership. That’s the deal she called the 'gold standard' when she was Secretary of State. Well, I have a message for Secretary Clinton: We shouldn't re-negotiate the Pacific trade proposal. We should kill this unfettered free-trade agreement which would cost us nearly half a million jobs. We don't need to tinker with this agreement. We need to defeat it. We need an entirely new trade policy that creates jobs in this country, not more low-wage jobs abroad."[9]
- On March 5, 2016, Sanders criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, and Clinton's stance on trade. He said, "We have had for the last 25 years, disastrous trade policies. What these trade agreements are about, TPP, what these trade agreements are about. They are written by corporate America and big money. They want to have an agreement that enables them to shut down plants. ... The real question is was she [Hillary Clinton] right to support NAFTA? Was she right to support permanent normal trade relations with China? The answer is, she was very, very wrong and millions of families around this country have been suffering as a result of those disastrous trade agreements. These trade agreements were pushed and written to a significant degree by corporate America for corporate America and the results are clear. We're not talking about some academic debate here. The results are clear when you look at Detroit, you look at Flint, you look at my own state of Vermont. We have lost thousands and thousands of decent-paying jobs."[10]
- In a series of tweets on October 5, 2015, Sanders criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He tweeted: "We need trade policies that promote the interests of American workers not just the CEOs of corporations #StopTPP. ...I am disappointed but not surprised by the decision to move forward on the disastrous TPP that will hurt consumers and cost American jobs. ...#TPP follows failed trade deals with Mexico & China that have cost millions of jobs & closed tens of thousands of factories across the US."[11] He also promised to fight the TPP in the following tweet:
- On June 24, 2015, by a vote of 60-38, the Senate approved trade promotion authority (TPA) as part of HR 2146 - the Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act. Sanders voted against the bill.[12]
- On May 22, 2015, the Senate passed HR 1314, which was used as a legislative vehicle for trade legislation with the titles "Trade Act of 2015" and the "Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015," by a vote of 62-37. The bill proposed giving the president trade promotion authority (TPA). The bill also included a statement of trade priorities and provisions for trade adjustment assistance. Independent Sens. Angus King (Maine) and Sanders voted against the bill with 31 Democrats and four Republicans.[13][14]
| Bernie Sanders, "TPP: Wall Street Wins, Workers Lose," April 17, 2015. |
- On May 8, 2015, Sanders released the following statement criticizing President Barack Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal speech at Nike Headquarters: "The president at Nike headquarters told us that every trade union in America is wrong, that progressives working for years for working families are wrong and that corporate America, the pharmaceutical industry and Wall Street are right. I respectfully disagree. This trade agreement would continue the process by which we have been shipping good-paying American jobs to low-wage countries overseas and continue the race to the bottom for American workers."[15]
- On April 22, 2015, Sanders "invoked a Senate rule to stop a morning meeting of the Finance Committee to mark up the so-called fast-track bill," which was part of the TPP negotiations, according to his website. Sanders said, "This job-killing trade deal has been negotiated in secret. It was drafted with input by special interests and corporate lobbyists but not from the elected representatives of the American people. Instead of rubber stamping the agreement, Congress and the public deserve a fair chance to learn what’s in the proposal."[16]
- On the same day, Sanders sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman asking him to address a variety of questions about the TPP.[16]
- Sanders voted against trade agreements with sub-Saharan Africa in 2000; Singapore, Chile and Oman in 2003; Peru in 2007 and Colombia in 2011.[17][18][19][20][21][22]
- In 2005, Sanders voted against HR 3045 - the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. It became law on August 2, 2005.[23]
- In 2000, Sanders voted against HR 4444 - To authorize extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the People's Republic of China, and to establish a framework for relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. It became law on October 10, 2000.[24]
- According to his website, "Sanders is also strongly opposed to giving any president 'fast track' trade negotiating authority, which would allow the president to expedite and expand failed trade policies with no meaningful checks and balances from Congress."[25]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Bernie + Sanders + International + Trade
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ VPR, "Bernie Sanders Is Streaming His Presidential Announcement On Periscope," April 30, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Bernie Sanders: Democrats Need to Wake Up," June 28, 2016
- ↑ RealClearPolitics, "Bernie Sanders: 'Elizabeth Warren And I Will Help Lead The Effort' To Stop TPP," October 7, 2015
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Democrats Must Fight To Defeat The Trans-Pacific Partnership," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Bernie Sanders," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Bernie Sanders," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Sanders urges Dems to oppose holding TPP vote," June 27, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Bernie Sanders," June 6, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "In Ohio, Hillary Clinton strengthens opposition to Trans-Pacific Partnership," accessed May 2, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "The Clinton-Sanders trade war," accessed May 2, 2016
- ↑ Twitter.com, "Bernie Sanders," accessed October 5, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Motion (Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2146)," accessed September 7, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R. 1314 (Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act)," accessed May 25, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, "H.R. 1314 (Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act)," accessed May 25, 2015
- ↑ Sanders.Senate.gov, "Sanders Statement on Obama at Nike HQ," accessed May 12, 2015
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Sanders.Senate.gov, "Sanders: Slow Down Fast Track," accessed May 12, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.434," accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.2739," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.2738," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "S.3569," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.3688," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.3078," accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.3045," accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.4444," accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Trade," accessed December 23, 2014
