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

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

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Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, having voted in favor of every free trade agreement considered during my tenure in Congress, I have been and continue to be an avid supporter of free trade. However, I cannot, in good faith, vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) as it stands today. Instead of helping to improve labor and environmental standards and increase the enforcement of those standards in Central America, CAFTA is a rubber stamp of the status-quo. CAFTA fails to strengthen existing labor and environmental laws and deliberately excludes meaningful penalties for Central American governments that fail to enforce such laws. What is worse, CAFTA removes the current ability of the United States to withdraw trade benefits when countries in the region refuse to improve labor and environmental standards. By removing this important--and proven--oversight mechanism, CAFTA could perversely weaken the few protections that exist for workers and the environment in Central America today.

CAFTA also includes an investment provision similar to North America Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) Chapter 11, which puts profits of multinational firms before the public safety and public health of citizens in the United States and in Central American countries. With CAFTA in its current form, the Administration makes its priorities clear: corporate need and greed above all else.

At the same time it leaves workers behind in Central America, CAFTA fails to help workers here at home. When drafting CAFTA, the Bush Administration refused to expand Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to service workers who stand to lose from CAFTA, and similarly, it did not increase the amount of assistance for those workers who are currently eligible under the TAA program. More generally, this Administration repeatedly refuses to fund education and training programs that would help to ensure the future competitiveness of the American people.

It is unfortunate that I, along with my other like-minded Democrats who support free trade, do not have the opportunity to vote on a free and fair trade agreement with Central America. I believe that free, fair trade can be a powerful means to improve living standards abroad and to broaden economic opportunities for people here at home. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration negotiated this agreement behind closed doors without soliciting the bipartisan input of Congress. While the Administration has had numerous opportunities to make simple, but important changes to CAFTA, it has consistently refused, and instead, has insisted on supporting the deeply flawed agreement we have before us today--an agreement that I oppose in its current form.

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