So today I'm noodling around Teh InterToobz, looking for information on the so-called HELP Act - what we here in the Haiti relief diary series prefer to think of as "Sweatshops for Haiti Act."
Self, says I, we need to find a plain-English summary of this Act, so that Kossacks don't have to wade through legislative-ese trying to figure out what it contains.
And so to Teh Google, where I come across repeated hits about somebody called Sorini, and another somebody called Samet, testifying about this Act. So I click on one of the links, and lo and behold, it's a Business Wire piece, posted yesterday, and entitled "Trade Experts Sorini Samet Comment on New HELP Act to Aid Haiti Trade."
Well, now, Self, says I, this is interesting. According to the piece - which to me looks for all the world like a press release (which is undoubtedly why it's posted at PR Newswire - see, I'm quick):
The HELP Act aims to speed Haiti’s economic recovery from the devastating January earthquake, by extending the existing trade preferences through 2020, and expanding duty-free access of Haitian textiles and apparel to the U.S. market.
It also offers a link to the lobby shop of Mssrs. Sorini and Samet, where I'm told that I can find said summary that I've been seeking. Unfortunately, as a lay person, I don't find the "summary" especially enlightening, so I return to the article press release. There I find quotes from Mr. Sorini himself, assuring me that "Haiti was determined to work constructively for meaningful legislation," and that "[w]e are confident Haiti will now be able to attract substantial investment that could create tens of thousands of jobs."
Oh. Well, then. Who could possibly oppose that? Oh, but one little thing: "tens of thousands of jobs" doing what?
They call it "textile assembly." Of course, they also call it "free trade." Who are "they," and why does this matter for Haiti?
The government of Haiti has hired a high-end D.C. lobbying shop, Sorini Samet, to represent the country in negotiations on the Hill. So I went to their Web site. Very illuminating.
Let's look at the principals:
Ambassador Ronald J. Sorini, Co-Founder and Principal
According to his official bio:
Ron Sorini implements and manages the firm's business development, consulting, and lobbying practice on international trade negotiations and legislation. He represents several major U.S. corporations and trade associations before the U.S. Government and the Congress on international trade issues and legislation. Mr. Sorini's unique combination of government, political, and corporate experience enables him to provide well-rounded strategic advice and international market analysis to multinational corporations and foreign governments.
Even more interesting, however, is what Ron Sorini did prior to becoming the public face of corporate America on Capitol Hill: As Fruit of the Loom's Senior Vice President for International Development & Government Relations, he scouted new markets in China, analyzed "manufacturing facility" (i.e., maquiladora) locations in Mexico and Central America, "developed strategies for hedging in the international cotton market," and served not only as the firm's federal lobbyist on "trade, tax, and regulatory issues," but founded and ran Fruit of the Loom's PAC. (Did you even know that Fruit of the Loom had a PAC? I wonder if he was accompanied on lobby missions by the guys in the fruit suits?)
In 1989, George H.W. Bush appointed him Ambassador & Chief Textile Negotiator to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. For purposes of his current Haiti efforts, most interesting is this:
"He developed and implemented policies to enhance the international competitiveness of the U.S. fiber, textile, and apparel industries. Mr. Sorini chaired U.S. delegations in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Uruguay Round, and bilateral agreements with more than fifty nations."
Andrew J. Samet, Co-Founder and Principal
Samet currently "manages the firm's consulting and lobbying practice on international trade negotiations and legislation," with background specialties in "apparel, footwear, and agriculture" industrial sectors. "He has also served as a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank and the ministers responsible for trade and labor from the countries of Central America, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia on the labor issues that have been central to congressional consideration of U.S. free trade agreements."
Prior to going into private practice, Samet was a Clinton Deputy Undersecretary of Labor, and the U.S. representative to the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization. In the latter capacity, he negotiated "the 1999 ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work"; he was also responsible for implementing NAFTA' North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation.
Ambassador William H. Houston III, Senior Consultant
Houston's background was originally in the Mississippi agricultural sector: cotton, wheat, rice, soybeans. Ronald Reagan appointed him, first, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Textiles & Apparel, in which capacity he chaired the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA). Subsequently, Reagan appointed him to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as Ambassador & Chief Textile Negotiator.
So why am I spending so much time on the background of three federal lobbyists?
Because these three people (for whom the best that can likely be said is that they are neoliberals) are going to be the chief architects - for the government of Haiti - of the international community's efforts to rebuild that quake-torn country's industrial sector. And because their collective background appears to demonstrate an affinity not only for NAFTA and the failed trade policies of past administrations, but of the maquiladora mentality, the culture of the sweatshop apologist.
And that's bad for Haiti.
Editorial Notes:
[Up next week, Taking Action: Is there anything we can do to reverse the apparent trend of sweatshops for Haiti? If so, what?]
This is the 138th-ish diary on the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The first diary was by Dallasdoc and previous diaries are linked below. The idea is to keep resources visible and easily available for those wishing help.
ShelterBox: TexMex is busy moving, but carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in Friday's diary will be monitored until then. Matching funds are sometimes available.
UPCOMING DIARIES
Saturday: Aji
Sunday: maggiejean
If you would like to volunteer to contribute a diary to continue this series, please volunteer in the comments below. Norbrook has created a Google documents file** with the source code for our usual introduction and the list of charities the community has developed. Doing one of these diaries, thanks to Norbrook, is not nearly as demanding as it was early in the series. Also, updates need to be made far less frequently. You don't need to set aside huge chunks of time for it and it's easy to multi-task if you have other things to do, as long as you're able to check the comments every 30 minutes or so.
**There is also a backup to the original google doc. See this comment for more details.
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The icons and March 13 formatting revision of this diary series are courtesy of the html artist known on Daily Kos as Pluto. The "Help Haiti" image at the top of the diary that has become the "logo" of this series is courtesy of AuntKat.