Obama defends pursuit of sweeping trade agreement

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama on Friday defended his pursuit of a sweeping trade pact as good for American workers in a global economy, dismissing fierce opposition from his own party as a “ratification of the status quo.”

The challenge for the Democratic president was on stark display hours before he began speaking at a White House news conference. Earlier in the day, Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, the senior Democrat of House Ways Means Committee, declared he was “out to defeat” the legislation because, he said, it would cost U.S. jobs and damage the environment. Only a few Democrats in the House, Levin predicted, would support the legislation.

Conceding the issue is difficult for the Democratic Party, Obama said the authority he sought is the same exercised by past presidents of both parties. And the pact he’s seeking with 11 Pacific nations would prevent countries like China and Japan from having a leg up in global commerce.