Bernie Sanders is calling for language in the platform that signals the Democratic Party's strong opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. | Getty Sanders: Democratic platform doesn't go far enough

Bernie Sanders says the Democrats' national platform is off to an "excellent start," but he's not entirely satisfied with the language surrounding the party's position on trade.

The Democratic National Committee released a party platform draft last week in St. Louis that called for a $15 minimum wage, free community college and the abolition of the death penalty, among other things. The draft was approved by a majority of members on the party's drafting committee.


Sanders, writing in an op-ed published Sunday by The Philadelphia Inquirer, said the draft "needs to be significantly improved" by this coming weekend, when the full Platform Committee meets in Orlando, Florida. The Vermont senator has pushed for the committee to adopt more positions favored by him, sometimes at the expense of those supported by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"There were a number of vitally important proposals brought forth by the delegates from our campaign that were not adopted. My hope is that a grassroots movement of working people, environmentalists, and human-rights advocates will work with us to demand that the Democratic Party include these initiatives in the platform to be adopted by the full committee in Orlando," Sanders wrote for the newspaper, based in the city hosting this month's Democratic National Convention.

Sanders is calling for language in the platform that signals the Democratic Party's strong opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Furthermore, he wants Congress to hold a vote on the agreement so that Democrats can be "on record in opposition."

"If both Clinton and I agree that the TPP should not get to the floor of Congress this year, it's hard to understand why an amendment saying so would not be overwhelmingly passed," he wrote.