Tokyo—Last Sunday at its international annual general meeting (AGM) held in Japan, voting representatives within Democrats Abroad (DA) unanimously passed a resolution on trade sponsored by the DA Hispanic Caucus. The resolution calls on the Democratic National Committee to urge members of Congress to support export opportunities to not only small- and medium-sized businesses, but also to women- and minority-owned American businesses.
An amendment was offered to include language on unions and collective bargaining, which was also adopted by the voting membership.
Chairwoman of the DA Hispanic Caucus, Ana Hernandez Blackstad (DA-Czech Republic), commented, “Passage of this resolution is proof that our party is stronger when its diverse members add their voices to the conversation. This resolution is pro-U.S. minorities, pro-women, pro-U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses, and, thanks to the amendment offered by the chairwoman of DA-Japan, pro-labor. We couldn’t be more thrilled about achieving this task in our first year of existence as a caucus, and I’m truly proud of the work we’ve done thus far.”
After debate on the resolution during the second day of the AGM, caucus leaders made revisions to improve it and satisfy remaining questions surrounding it. It was resubmitted for debate and passed the body with full support on the AGM’s final day. “The evidence is clear. Multiple studies confirm that too many U.S. export deals do not go to U.S. business owners who deserve it. President Obama once remarked, ‘Don’t bet against the American worker.’ I fully agree with him and would take it a step further in saying that betting on America’s women- and minority-owned businesses is also not only a sure bet, but an act of patriotism by the federal government in supporting export trade opportunities for these disadvantaged groups,” stated Michael Ramos (DA-Australia), vice chair of the Hispanic Caucus.
The resolution will be presented at the 2020 DA annual general meeting, where the Hispanic Caucus aims to amend the DA Platform with the resolution’s new proposed trade text.