by KEN THOMAS, The Associated
Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Democrats on
Friday voted down an amendment to the party's platform that would have opposed
the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, avoiding an awkward scenario that
would have put its statement of values at odds with President Barack Obama.
Members of a Democratic
National Convention drafting committee defeated a proposal led by Rep. Keith
Ellison, D-Minn., that would have added language rejecting the Pacific Rim
trade pact, which has been opposed by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton
and Bernie Sanders.
The panel, which is developing
the party's platform ahead of next month's Philadelphia convention, instead
backed a measure that said "there are a diversity of views in the
party" on the TPP and reaffirmed that Democrats contend any trade deal
"must protect workers and the environment."
Allies of Clinton and Sanders
pored over the 15,000-word draft of the platform on the first day of a two-day
meeting in a St. Louis hotel. It was the result of late nights and long hours of
policy exchanges between the two campaigns and the Democratic National
Committee, reflecting both the party's divisions and areas of consensus.
In some cases Clinton's side
gave ground to Sanders. The panel approved language calling for the abolition
of the death penalty, calling it "a cruel and unusual form of punishment
which has no place" in the nation. Clinton said during a debate earlier
this year that it should only be used in limited cases involving "heinous
crimes," while Sanders said the government should not use capital
punishment.
Reflecting Sanders' advocacy,
the platform also calls for the expansion of Social Security and says Americans
should earn at least a $15 an hour, referring to the current minimum wage of
$7.25 an hour as a "starvation wage," a phrase the Vermont senator
often uses. Sanders has pushed for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, while Clinton
has supported efforts to raise the minimum wage to that level but has said
states and cities should raise the bar as high as possible.
Sanders' allies wanted the
draft to specify that the $15 minimum wage should be indexed with inflation.
But Clinton's side struck down the amendment, noting that the document already
included a call to "raise and index the minimum wage."
The committee also adopted
language that said it supports a variety of ways to prevent banks from gambling
with taxpayers' bank deposits, "including an updated and modernized
version of Glass-Steagall." Sanders supports reinstating the
Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited commercial banks from
engaging in investment banking activities. Clinton does not support reinstating
the law but said her proposed financial reforms would cast a wider net by
regulating the shadow banking system.
Working into the evening, the
panel narrowly rejected amendments offered by environmentalist Bill McKibben, a
Sanders supporter, that would have imposed a tax on carbon and imposed a
national moratorium on fracking.
The document will be debated
and revised before the party's July convention and includes a dozen themes,
including sections dealing with the economy, climate change, education, health
care, national security and other issues.
On trade, Obama has promoted
the TPP despite opposition from rank-and-file Democrats. Members of the panel
said it would be wrong to undercut the outgoing president in the platform.
"What I don't want to do
is leave this place disregarding the position of the President of the United
States," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a Clinton supporter who noted
his opposition to trade deals.
But Cornel West, a civil
rights leader and Sanders supporter, said it was important for the party to
take a stand against the trade deal, which Sanders has opposed because of his
concerns about the loss of manufacturing jobs.
Sanders, in a statement, said
he was "disappointed and dismayed" that the committee would vote down
a measure on trade that both he and Clinton supported but added that he was
pleased with the proposals on Glass-Steagall and the death penalty.
The panel was expected to
consider language on the Israel-Palestinian conflict that has divided some
members of the party. The current draft advocates working toward a
"two-state solution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict" that
guarantees Israel's security with recognized borders "and provides the
Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity."
Clinton has secured enough
delegates to receive the Democratic nomination, but Sanders, her primary rival,
has said he hopes to influence the platform to reflect the views of his
supporters. The platform is a statement of the party's values and positions on
a wide range of issues. While it does not bind the Democratic nominee to
stances, it serves as a guidepost for the party moving forward.
Sanders said Friday on MSNBC's
"Morning Joe" that he would vote for Clinton. But he has not yet
endorsed her or encouraged his supporters to back her campaign. The Vermont
senator has said he wants the platform to include many of his positions on
income inequality, education and health care.
The convention's full Platform
Committee will consider the draft document in Orlando, Florida, next month.
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