Democrats are gleefully celebrating *this article in the Denver Post today. The article, featuring a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Schaffer preparing to try their hand at parasailing, points out that 2008 U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and his wife accepted an all expense paid trip to the Marianna Islands in 1999, which was partially arranged by the law firm which employed now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On the trip, then Congressman Schaffer was supposed to investigate alleged labor abuses in the island's massive textile industry, where "Made in America" clothing is produced by immigrants from China, the Phillipines, and Bangladesh. Schaffer told the Post that he visited twenty factories, but only found problems in one.
The article talks about a class action lawsuit filed the year Schaffer visited the factories. The lawsuit alleged that people were sleeping seven to a room, women recruited to work in the factories were instead diverted into the sex trade industry, and that pregnant women were forced to have abortions. The Post article does not tell us the results of the lawsuit.
I want to hear Schaffer's response to these allegations. What did he do about these problems, if he found any evidence that the allegations were true? Personally, I do not think Congresspeople should take trips on lobbyists' dimes. If he did do anything to expose abuses, why did the Post not report what he did? Or, did he not explain to the Post what he did? We need to hear from Bob Schaffer.
2 comments:
Ben DeGrow points out here that the lobbyist firm did not pay for Schaffer's trip. An organization called the Traditional Values Coalition paid all of his expenses. DeGrow says the Post revealed this in paragraph thirty. I missed it.
Sorry, a kid interruption. Ben DeGrow's post was here.
Post a Comment