Broad Minnesota Coalition Urges Backing of Trade Reform Legislation

A diverse array of seventy-two faith, labor, environmental, social justice and family farm organizations throughout Minnesota sent a joint letter yesterday to their Congressional Delegation in support of passing meaningful fair trade legislation. The *Trade, Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act(S.2821/H.R.3012) currently has 143 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives, from both parties, including five members from Minnesota. Groups that often don't agree on other issues joined together to encourage more members of the Minnesota delegation to cosponsor the bill.

The 'TRADE Act' lays out a more balanced framework for expanding trade, in a way that can serve a majority of people on issues such as jobs, wages, the environment, worker rights, and consumer safety. The legislation essentially serves as a blueprint for how to negotiate future trade deals.

"With the TRADE Act, we have an incredible opportunity to set our country on a new path where trade exists to benefit the people who do the work, not the other way around." stated Jessica Lettween, Director of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition. "We applaud Representatives McCollum, Ellison, Oberstar, Walz, and Peterson for taking the lead in support of this critical piece of legislation and call on Representatives Bachmann, Kline and Paulsen and Senators Franken and Klobuchar to follow suit."