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Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

Date: July 27, 2005
Location: Washington DC
Issues: Trade


DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-CENTRAL AMERICA-UNITED STATES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 2005)

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for yielding me time.

Almost 2.8 million American manufacturing jobs have been lost since President Bush took office in 2001. These were good jobs with good wages, and they have been shipped overseas to countries with cheap labor. CAFTA will export even more American jobs, but it will do nothing to improve wages and living conditions in Central America.

CAFTA is not about free trade at all. It is an outsourcing agreement. It allows profit-hungry corporations to ship American jobs to impoverished countries where workers can be forced to work long hours for little pay and no benefits. It is a bad deal for Central American workers, and it is an equally bad deal for workers here in the United States.

I ask my colleagues who are thinking of voting in favor of CAFTA, how will you tell poor workers in Central America who are trying to organize labor unions and demand living wages that you voted for this agreement which does not require their governments to respect human rights or comply with international labor standards? How will you go home to your constituents and tell them you voted to export their jobs overseas? How will you tell working families in your district that you care more about corporate profits than workers wages?

I request Members to vote no on CAFTA.

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