Withdrawing Approval Of The United States From Agreement Establishing The WTO

WITHDRAWING APPROVAL OF THE UNITED STATES FROM AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION -- (House of Representatives - June 09, 2005)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support House Joint Resolution 27 to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization.

The WTO is not about free trade or fair trade. It is about corporate power. WTO rules allow America's labor, environmental and public interest laws to be challenged by multinational corporations seeking profits and power. Other countries have also seen their domestic laws challenged in order to expand corporate power. The WTO sacrifices the rights of workers, the protection of the environment and the health and safety of working families.

WTO rules support corporations to move their operations from one country to another in search of the cheapest labor and the least government regulation. If a country enacts a minimum wage law, a corporation that does not want to pay a decent wage can simply move its factory to another country. If workers in that country organize a labor union, the corporation can move the factory to a third country. Many corporations prefer to operate in countries such as the People's Republic of China, which outlaw independent labor organizations. The WTO has no restrictions on sweatshops, child labor, pr ison labor or slave labor.

WTO rules promote investment opportunities for multinational corporations without regard to their impact on workers, the environment or the public interest. Countries' labor, health and environmental laws can be challenged if they have a side effect of restricting trade.

In the 10 years since the WTO was established, a wide variety of U.S. and foreign laws have been challenged. With only two exceptions, every health, food safety and environmental law challenged at the WTO has been ruled illegal. Meanwhile, multinational pharmaceutical companies have used WTO intellectual property rules to deny poor countries the right to provide live-saving medicine to people with terrible diseases like HIV and AIDS.

They tried it with Brazil. The world protest against the attempt to keep Brazil from using generic drugs to save lives, prevent HIV and AIDS was fought off because of the protest, and they had to back down.

But look what they did in South Africa. I wish I had time to tel l my colleagues about it.

In 42 out of the 48 completed cases brought against the United States, the WTO has labeled U.S. laws illegal. U.S. laws ruled illegal by WTO include tax laws, anti-dumping laws, sea turtle protections and clean air rules. And when the WTO ruled in favor of the United States in a case on bananas, it was to benefit who? A large corporation, Chiquita, that has now driven Grenada and some of these small countries into poverty. We do not produce any bananas here in the United States . We protected Chiquita, who mistreats its workers in Central America, and we put small Caribbean farmers out of work.

Mr. Speaker, after the WTO rules a country's laws illegal, the WTO authorizes economic sanctions that cost the country millions of dollars. These sanctions put small businesses out of business and workers out of work. History has proven that the WTO does not prevent trade wars. It authorizes trade wars.

The WTO puts profits of the world's wealthiest and most powerful corporations ah ead of the health, safety and welfare and well-being of working families.

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I urge my colleagues to support the WTO Withdrawal Resolution. It's time to stop the global expansion of corporate power and put working families first.

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