President Wants Waxman’s Firepower in NAFTA Showdown

NAFTA PRO: Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) remains one of the most high-profile Democrats who has yet to take a position on the North American Free Trade Agreement. As an environmental leader, his counsel on this aspect of the treaty has been sought by colleagues.

It was hardly surprising, then, that Waxman was called to the White House on Wednesday for a NAFTA chat with President Clinton, who is campaigning hard for congressional ratification.

Still, Waxman may not have expected to spend 45 minutes in the Oval Office with Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Howard Paster, the President’s chief Capitol Hill lobbyist.

Waxman emerged still on the fence but impressed by the attention. Asked if he heard any new arguments, he replied: “I have to tell you, honestly, no. But when you hear it from the President and the vice president sitting on either side of you, you pay close attention.”

Waxman said he expressed “concerns about the impact of NAFTA on the environment, on jobs, on the (ability) of the United States to pass our own health and safety laws without having them challenged as trade barriers” under the terms of the agreement by Mexico, Canada or other countries that might sign on to any future extension of the trade pact.

He said he suggested renegotiating the proposed pact--which Clinton rejected.

“Both the President and the vice president made their case, and they had a strong case to make,” Waxman said. “They feel that if we don’t have a NAFTA, we’ll have even less leverage on environmental issues and all the other concerns I raised with them.”

Waxman said that Clinton asked him directly for his vote. But, he added, “I didn’t ask for anything and they didn’t offer me anything” to win his support in the high-stakes showdown.

A source close to Waxman described him as still leaning against NAFTA. But others speculate that his strong political standing in his affluent and heavily Democratic district gives him the freedom ultimately to back fellow Democrat Clinton on a big vote without fear of political fallout.

“I feel that I can make the decision I think is right and that people in my district will accept that even though many of them are against NAFTA,” Waxman said. “It’s one that I have to weigh very carefully.”

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NAFTA CON: When Reps. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) and Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) announced their support for the North American Free Trade Agreement, both said they expected political fallout from some longtime supporters. They were right.

An ad hoc coalition of organized labor, environmental and Latino organizations has launched a search for Democrats to oppose the two veteran lawmakers in primaries next year. A news release by the Southern California Coalition for No NAFTA called Berman and Beilenson former friends and “turncoats.”

“NAFTA is the biggest threat we’ve faced in years,” said Gil Sanchez, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1108. “It is a litmus-test vote. If they vote for it, we dump them.”

Robert Benson, a Loyola Law School professor and coalition organizer, said a prospective Beilenson opponent has expressed interest but he declined to offer a name. “We’re not looking for lightweight kooks off the street who are just one-issue candidates,” Benson said.

Benson said the group is also watching undecided Rep. Henry Waxman.

Berman, a close ally of labor throughout his career, maintains that, contrary to the unions’ fear, NAFTA would lead to the creation of manufacturing jobs by phasing out trade barriers with Mexico and Canada. It would also help alleviate environmental problems along the U.S.-Mexican border, he believes. Beilenson said the treaty would ultimately create more jobs than it costs, benefit consumers and deter illegal immigration from Mexico.

Environmental groups across the nation are divided over the issue. And not all the members of the Southern California anti-NAFTA coalition joined the call to arms against Berman and Beilenson. The Sierra Club regional office that includes Southern California, which Benson listed as a coalition member, declined to do so.

“We have no intention of seeking to recruit candidates to run against any good environmentalist in Congress based on one single vote,” said Daniel J. Weiss, the Sierra Club’s political director. “All three of these members have very, very strong environmental records, and we consider them to be close allies.”

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UPHILL RACERS: Veteran Democratic Reps. Howard L. Berman and Henry A. Waxman are considered two of the politically safest lawmakers in the state. But two Republicans--one undaunted by two previous losses, the other an untested newcomer--are making noises about challenging them next year.

Gary Forsch, manager of a Sun Valley hardware store, is soliciting funds in a bid for the GOP nomination in Berman’s northeast Valley district. Forsch took only 30% of the vote against Berman last year after a low-budget, low-profile campaign. He lost a bid for the nomination in 1990.

“I plan to improve every aspect of my campaign and work as hard as I can to present a better image to the voters,” said Forsch, who aspires “to present a credible alternative to what the current incumbent is doing.”

Forsch feels Berman may be more vulnerable next year because “job losses in the district are frightening” and “things have gotten worse around here economically.”

Berman replied by citing his efforts to establish an advanced transportation manufacturing industry in Southern California, bring federal defense conversion funds to the region and gain tax incentives for Pacoima as part of a federally designated Empowerment Zone. Moreover, he said he is working closely with the city of Los Angeles to secure federal funds to put more police on the street--which he maintains is essential for the area’s economic recovery.

“I am acutely aware of the state of the economy in Southern California,” Berman said. “And I will match the time I’m putting in and the productivity of my efforts with anyone else from this area.”

Paul Stepanek, a Westwood resident and president of a video production company, has sent out fund-raising letters touting himself as an alternative to the “ultra-liberal” Waxman. Stepanek, 33, said in a brief interview that he was “just testing the waters.”

He previously worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee but would be a first-time candidate. In his letter, he said Waxman “supported almost every tax increase proposal in Congress in the last 20 years” and that the lawmaker is part of a federal government “influenced by big bureaucracy, special interest groups and the privileged elite.”

Waxman, who has never lost an election in 25 years in public life, appears unfazed.

“Sounds like a Republican,” was his response to Stepanek’s statements. “Next topic?”

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TALE OF THE TAPE: If Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs proceeds as planned, the only thing stopping his unprecedented disclosure of audiotapes of the council’s closed-door debates on the recent Department of Water and Power strike may be a vote of the council itself.

Wachs will soon introduce a motion asking the council to release the tapes, according to Greg Nelson, the east San Fernando Valley lawmaker’s chief deputy.

The green light came after Wachs’ office recently got an opinion from City Atty. James Hahn that it is within the council’s prerogative to release the tapes.

Wachs sought the opinion after getting into a spat with Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who claimed Wachs’ public and private statements about settling the strike were at odds. In effect, Yaroslavsky accused Wachs of supporting the 9% wage settlement in executive session while vocally criticizing it in public.

But it’s Yaroslavsky who has lied, not him, Wachs has said, and the tapes of the executive sessions will vindicate him.

So, after receiving the opinion from Hahn’s office, Wachs has decided to keep the heat on and introduce a motion calling for the release, Nelson said. “It’s never been done before,” he added.

Wachs’ top aide said the tapes will clarify who really fought for and against the settlement, demonstrate that the true cost of the settlement was 11% and that top DWP officials lied to lawmakers about the impact of the strike on the agency’s bottom line.

But don’t expect the Wachs motion to surface for a while. The councilman is spending all of next week on personal business, a trip to New York City, his staff said.

This column was reported by Times staff writers Alan C. Miller in Washington, D.C., and John Schwada in Los Angeles.