2016 LA Senate race: on Free Trade
Charles Boustany:
2013: Supported TPP; 2016: too many concessions
The candidate who may have the toughest time navigating anti-TPP sentiment is Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette. An ardent free-trader and considered the Louisiana delegation's foremost authority on trade policy, he has been a leader with the "Friends
of the Trans-Pacific Partnership" congressional caucus, which was founded in 2013. "After reading the text of the finalized agreement, it is abundantly clear the administration failed to meet key congressional objectives as specified in the
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act," Boustany said in a statement. "I cannot support the TPP in its current form."
He later clarified that he disagreed with provisions in the deal that allow countries
to refuse to give trade concessions to tobacco companies, allow Mexico to buy rice from Vietnam instead of Louisiana, and don't offer intellectual property protections for pharmaceuticals as strong as those in U.S. law.
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune on 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Aug 10, 2016
Foster Campbell:
TPP is skewed to the advantage of big business
Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, a Democrat from Elm Grove, said the Trans-Pacific Partnership was skewed to the advantage of big business and had attracted opposition from all political sides.
"If Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump are against it," he said, "we'd better take a good look at this deal because all sides are against it."
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune on 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Aug 10, 2016
John Fleming:
TPP means open season on American jobs
Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, saw the Trans-Pacific Partnership as "open season to bring in as many foreign workers as possible" to take American jobs, he said at a forum Tuesday night.
He earlier had criticized it for too few intellectual property protections and an attack on the American textile industry.
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune on 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Aug 10, 2016
John Neely Kennedy:
TPP lacks safeguards against currency manipulation
State Treasurer John Kennedy, a Republican from Madisonville, called the lack of any safeguards against currency manipulation the Trans-Pacific Partnership's major flaw. That's the tactic deployed when a country artificially keeps low the value of
its money against the American dollar, making imported American goods more expensive than domestically made ones. "If you're in doubt about something this important that affects 40 percent of the world's economy, then I say don't do it," Kennedy said.
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune on 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Aug 10, 2016
Joseph Cao:
No trade deal with Vietnam due to human rights abuses
Joseph Cao provided the most concise reason for his opposition to the TPP. He said he couldn't agree to any deal that includes Vietnam because of its history of human rights abuses. Cao escaped Vietnam to the United States as a
child. "We, as a country founded on religious freedom, founded on rule of law, founded on democracy, have to trade with partners that have the same values," he said, adding that he would reconsider the deal if Vietnam were excised as a partner.
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune on 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Aug 10, 2016
Rob Maness:
Criticized TPP for its closed-door negotiations
Retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness, R-Madisonville, couldn't be farther to the right of attorney Caroline Fayard, D-New Orleans, on the political spectrum, but both criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership for its
closed-door negotiations and the potential threat to American jobs. "We need to have as free a market as possible but we need to have a level playing field for us Americans," Maness said.
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune on 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Aug 10, 2016
Thomas Clements:
No restrictions on trade, but no corporatism
Q: Do you agree or disagree with the statement, "Support & expand free trade"?
A: No restrictions, but no corporatism. Free Trade should not have any barriers. Jobs lost are those we don't want.
Source: Email interview on 2016 Louisiana Senate race by OnTheIssues
Jul 31, 2016
Charles Boustany:
Yes to Ex-im bank; Yes to fast-track
Ballotpedia.org analysis of Congressional voting record on trade issues:- Voted YEA on Trade adjustment assistance (TAA): On 6/12/15, the House rejected the TAA measure in HR 1314 by a vote of 126 to 302. TAA is a federal program providing
American workers displaced by foreign trade agreements with job training and services.
- Voted YEA on Trade promotion authority (TPA): On 6/12/15, the House narrowly passed the TPA measure in HR 1314 by a vote of 219 to 211.
TPA would give the president fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements sent to Congress without the opportunity for amendment or filibuster.
- Voted YEA on Export-Import Bank: On 10/27/15, the House passed HR 597, the Export-Import Bank
Reform and Reauthorization Act, by a vote of 313-118. The bill allows the Export-Import Bank to resume offering assistance in the form of loans and insurance to foreign companies that want to buy U.S. goods.
Source: Ballotpedia.org coverage of 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Jun 12, 2015
John Fleming:
No to Ex-im bank; No to fast-track
Ballotpedia.org analysis of Congressional voting record on trade issues:- Voted NAY on Trade adjustment assistance (TAA): On 6/12/15, the House rejected the TAA measure in HR 1314 by a vote of 126 to 302. TAA is a federal program providing
American workers displaced by foreign trade agreements with job training and services.
- Voted NAY on Trade promotion authority (TPA): On 6/12/15, the House narrowly passed the TPA measure in HR 1314 by a vote of 219 to 211.
TPA would give the president fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements sent to Congress without the opportunity for amendment or filibuster.
- Voted NAY on Export-Import Bank: On 10/27/15, the House passed HR 597, the Export-Import Bank
Reform and Reauthorization Act, by a vote of 313-118. The bill allows the Export-Import Bank to resume offering assistance in the form of loans and insurance to foreign companies that want to buy U.S. goods.
Source: Ballotpedia.org coverage of 2016 Louisiana Senate race
Jun 12, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 08, 2018