DeLauro Expresses Concerns about Wilbur Ross, President-Elect Trump’s Nominee for Secretary of Commerce

WASHINGTON, DC (January 18, 2017) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement regarding the nomination of Wilbur Ross, President-elect Trump's choice for Secretary of Commerce, and his corporate ties.

"Throughout the 2016 Election, Mr. Trump made his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership very clear, a stance that a great deal of the American electorate supports. However, since the election, Mr. Trump has named corporate insiders, including Wilbur Ross, to his cabinet, a concerning development for American workers and their families.

"From his role in overseeing the off-shoring of more than 2,700 American jobs and his windfall in the steel industry at the expense of both employees and pensioners, to his past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, I worry that Mr. Ross will prioritize corporate interests at the expense of American workers. Pursuing tax cuts for multinational corporations is not an economic plan to grow the middle class.

"Members of Congress worked with a coalition of labor, environmental, consumer protection, faith, and human rights activists for more than five years to defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership. My colleagues in Congress and I will hold the incoming administration accountable for creating good paying middle class jobs that cannot be outsourced, and raising wages in America. That is the standard to which we held the last administration, and we will demand a comprehensive, new approach to trade policy under the next administration."