Speeches by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and several other elected officials are planned today for the California Democratic Party convention at the Anaheim Convention Center along with a rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Warren, D-Massachusetts, is scheduled to speak at the morning general session, as are House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang.
Attorney General and Senate candidate Kamala Harris, Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins, Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and Controller Betty T. Yee are scheduled to speak at the afternoon general session.
Atkins, D-San Diego, and de Leon, D-Los Angeles, are also set to speak at a luncheon.
Former Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, is scheduled to speak at a dinner.
A “working families” rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership will also be held. The trade agreement has split the Democratic Party. It is being championed by President Barack Obama, while Warren is its highest-profile opponent.
Obama has said the partnership would boost economic growth by increasing American exports, support the creation and retention of American jobs and promote innovation.
The agreement “reflects our values in ways that frankly, some previous trade agreements did not,” Obama said in a May 8 speech at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.
“It’s the highest-standard, most progressive trade deal in history,” Obama said.
“It’s got strong enforceable things for child labor. It’s got strong, enforceable provisions on the environment, helping us to do things that haven’t been done before, to prevent wildlife trafficking or deforestation or dealing with our oceans.”
Warren told NPR Tuesday one reason she opposes the agreement is that Obama “is asking us to vote to grease the skids on a trade deal that has largely been negotiated, but that is still held in secret.”
Another is that “we know corporations under this deal are going to sue countries for regulations they don’t like and that the decisions are not going to be made by courts, they’re going to be made by private lawyers,” Warren told NPR.
Opponents have also said the trade agreement will continue the trend of exporting millions of high-paying jobs to low-wage countries, reduce wages for 90 percent of American workers, lower food safety and environmental standards and increase human rights abuses.
A rally will also be held opposing bills in the Legislature that would require students be vaccinated and early education and daycare workers to comply with the Centers for Disease Control vaccination schedule, except for the flu and HPV.
