Sanders: ‘The good side won’ on trade

by Mark Hensch - 06/13/15 10:58 AM ET

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the defeat of President Obama’s trade legislation in the House on Friday was the right outcome for average Americans.

“The House has put a kibosh on the Trans-Pacific [Partnership],” he said at a rally at Drake University in Des Moines late Friday, according to The Des Moines Register.

“Our trade policies over the last 40 years … have been a disaster,” Sanders said. “TPP is a continuation of these disastrous trade policies.”

{mosads}“Today, the good side won,” he added.

The House on Friday shocked the White House by voting against Trade Adjustment Assistance, a federal program granting aid to workers displaced by trade.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spearheaded backlash against the bill.

Afterward, the House approved trade promotion authority, or “fast-track,” which allows Congress only an up-or-down vote on trade deals negotiated by the White House.

Fast-track becoming law is the key to TPP, a proposed trade pact with 12 Pacific Rim nations. But fast-track can only get to Obama’s desk if the workers-aid bill passes as well.

Sanders, a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, said the debate over the trade package had brought attention to an issue often ignored by the public.

He warned that TPP could have a significant negative effect on U.S. jobs.

“It’s not a sexy issue … but it is enormous,” Sanders said of trading policies.

“Since 2001, we have lost some 60,000 factories in this country and millions of decent-paying jobs,” he said. “Trade isn’t the only reason for these losses, but it is the major reason.”

Tags Bernie Sanders