AFL-CIO Prods 7 Senators to Help Override Veto
The AFL-CIO, working closely with the House Democratic leadership, has started home-state public relations campaigns against seven U.S. senators in hopes of persuading them to help override President Reagan’s promised veto of the comprehensive trade bill.
The drive has targeted Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and several other Republican lawmakers who voted against the bill and are running for reelection this year, Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Merced) said at a breakfast meeting with reporters. He added that the backers of the bill are three votes short of the total necessary to override a veto.
Coelho, referring to the California Senate campaign, added: “Mr. Wilson is in a tight race in California and he needs to make a decision on whether the bill is helpful to his constituents or whether he responds to the President’s call again and again.”
Rather Fight Than Switch
Besides organized labor’s efforts, Coelho said, representatives of California agriculture, film industry and semiconductor industry will try to persuade Wilson to switch his vote and support the bill.
Wilson said, however, that he would rather fight the bill’s provision for 60 days’ advance notice of plant closings than switch and vote to override Reagan’s veto. “Mr. Coelho and my opponent are creatures of the wishes of organized labor,” Wilson said in a telephone interview.
“The plant-closing provision is extraneous,” he added. “Ironically, it would produce the kind of disincentive to investment that would mean fewer jobs’ being created rather than more.”
An AFL-CIO spokesman said labor federation officials plan to conduct news conferences and offer recorded statements to radio stations in Los Angeles and other cities. They will also buy time later for radio spots focusing on the trade bill controversy.
Other Senators Targeted
Besides Wilson, the other targeted Republican senators are Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota, David Karnes of Nebraska, Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon, Alfonse M. D’Amato of New York and Bob Kasten of Wisconsin. Boschwitz, Karnes and D’Amato are running for reelection.
Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.), the only Democrat to vote against the bill when it passed the Senate last week by a 63-36 margin, also will be targeted by the AFL-CIO publicity drive, a labor spokesman said.
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater reaffirmed Reagan’s intention to reject the bill.
“We feel our position is the politically strong one,” he said. “It reveals the strength of the Republican Party, which is that we are for job creation and the kind of economic structure that results in 15 1/2 million jobs in seven years, 64 months of straight economic recovery and prosperity, an unemployment rate of 5.5% and ‘help wanted’ signs in one city after another.”
