Pass DR-CAFTA
PASS DR-CAFTA -- (House of Representatives - July 25, 2005)
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Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) for his leadership on this issue. He has been the point man on this in Congress, and he has done a great job. I am proud to work with him on this, and proud to call him my friend as well.
Since September 11, we have made this Nation's security and prosperity our number one priority. Halfway around the world, we fight terrorism and promote freedom with the strength of our military. In our own hemisphere, we have several different weapons in the strength of our economy, our business and our trade that will help to guarantee our safety. We must utilize these tools to prevent tyranny and evil from gaining power in our own backyard.
For years, our Central American neighbors were torn apart by civil wars that epitomized the global battle between good and evil. With our help they have created stable and free governments. However, that battle is far from won. There are those who would like to reverse the progress that we have made, and those who wish to use the fragile state of our friends' democracies to attack our very existence.
In order to win the war on terror, we must continue to guarantee the stability of democracy in our own hemisphere. The citizens of this country have entrusted us with their safety and their well-being. They have asked us to represent their interests and to help increase their standard of living. Job creation should not fall prey to politics. We need to rise above partisan politics to work for the good of our country.
That is why this week my colleagues and I in the United States Congress will vote for legislation that will strengthen our economy, our security, and our way of life. The Dominican Republic and Central American Free Trade Agreement will help reinforce freedom and democracy throughout our entire region.
When considering the benefits of CAFTA, we must consider the pitfalls of not passing it. With the improvement of our economic relationship with Central America, we will see an improvement in our security relationship.
Recently I met with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, and he made it clear to me that this trade agreement is crucial to our national security. We are currently engaged in a war on terror on the other side of the world, while there are already terrorists who are using Central America as a base of operations against the United States. This trade agreement is not only good for our economy, it is also vital to our national security by stabilizing Central American democracies.
In addition to international terrorism, we must also mind the rising threat of China's global influence. If the United States does not adopt CAFTA, we will see China take our place as Central America's biggest and most important trading partner. This would mean an increase in America's trade deficit with nations all over the world and make the United States a secondary economic power. Twenty years ago we helped Central America fight a war against Communist forces, and now China is trying to reassert its influence within our own hemisphere. We will not allow this to happen. This trade agreement keeps America ahead of China and will increase America's financial security. Through CAFTA, Central America should continue to see the U.S. as its main trading partner instead of Communist China.
And on the issue of immigration, by passing CAFTA and helping people to create a better life in Central America, the citizens of those countries will be motivated to work, to prosper, and, most importantly, to stay in their own countries. Working with America, their standards of living will increase. Ultimately my home State of Texas and the rest of the Nation will spend less time and money combating the problem of illegal immigration. This is really, in my view, the long-term solution to our immigration problem.
CAFTA will also level the playing field. CAFTA represents the completion of our trade relationship, not just the beginning of one. Through unilateral preference programs already approved by Congress, nearly 80 percent of CAFTA imports and 99 percent of CAFTA ag products already enter the United States duty free. CAFTA will make this one-way road a two-way superhighway by giving our agriculture and industrial goods and services access to their markets. We will level the playing field by eliminating high tariffs, tariff rate quotas and nontariff barriers. My home State of Texas will be one of the top three States to benefit by enacting this trade agreement.
On the issue of new jobs, CAFTA countries, which include the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, are the United States' largest market for domestic apparel and yarn exports and the second largest market for U.S. fabric exports. Trade with these countries exceeds trade with countries like Australia and Russia. This deal is critical to sustain and expand existing partnerships to give CAFTA goods a competitive edge, particularly with the elimination of global quotas and increased competition from Asia. This trade agreement will help support approximately 400,000 jobs in Central America and the Dominican Republic and 700,000 workers in the United States in cotton, yarn, textile and other apparel sectors.
On the issue of agriculture, America's farmers are also expected to see increases in the needs from Central America for their crops and livestock. Some of the most important U.S. exports to the region expected to gain significantly from CAFTA include feed grains, wheat, soybeans, poultry, pork and beef. That is why the American and the Texas Farm Bureau support CAFTA.
On the issue of technology and business, this agreement creates huge potential profits for our technology industry. CAFTA holds the promise of new opportunities and expanded markets for a wide array of U.S. high-tech merchandise, exporters, manufacturers, service providers and their employees. Total U.S. high-tech exports to Central America in 2003 totaled nearly $2.5 billion. From Dell to Samsung to Applied Materials to Hewlett Packard, the high-tech industry in Texas and the United States will benefit greatly from this trade agreement. And as the standard of living improves in these countries, the demand for more advanced technology will grow with it.
In conclusion, it is essential that we pass CAFTA. Along with President Bush, I believe this trade agreement will mean increased safety and security for our Nation. With their own nations seeing prosperity, Central Americans will have less reason to illegally cross U.S. borders looking for better opportunities in our country. America's farmers and businesses will find new and easier ways to export their goods and services to the tune of billions of new dollars. For the average American, CAFTA will mean a cost savings at the grocery store. And for the entire Western Hemisphere, this trade agreement will spread and strengthen democracy, peace and freedom.
CAFTA has support, wide and deep, from many groups, but it is important to note tonight those who oppose CAFTA. CAFTA is opposed by Marxist leftists and terrorist leaders such as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. In addition, this vote is being watched carefully by Iran, North Korea and China, who all stand to gain by the failure of this vote, a vote we cannot afford to lose.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. If the gentleman would stay for just a moment. You have spent your whole life in law enforcement and a number of your recent years in protecting homeland security from threats. One of the key points you made is that while we are fighting a war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan with our men and women, the fact is we fought a war, as well, 20 years ago in Central America, moving those countries away from communism and socialism toward democracy. They have made real progress, but we still have leaders like Castro and Chavez and Daniel Ortega and FMLM, some of the most Socialist anti-American groups in this hemisphere opposing us because their point is democracy does not work, human rights does not work, the rule of law does not work. Communist does. Come, step backward in time.
One of my colleague's points was the worst thing we could do would be to give that region back to the Communists and Socialists at a time when they have made so much progress.
Mr. McCAUL of Texas. We cannot afford to turn the clock back, as the gentleman mentioned. We won that war 25 years ago, but now we see instability in the region. We see President Chavez down in Venezuela aligning himself with people like Fidel Castro, asking Iran for nuclear technology. We have a triborder region down in South America where al Qaeda and groups like Hezbollah meet and discuss their activities. The threat is very real. It is no surprise that Fidel Castro and President Chavez oppose CAFTA because they know that there is nothing better for us and for Central America in spreading democracy than for CAFTA to get passed. That is why President Hugo Chavez has actually sent money to legislators in Nicaragua to actually oppose CAFTA in their country.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. My understanding, too, is we are seeing letters from legislators down in Central America who are being financed by our Socialists down there who say they are opposing it on the merits, but in fact they are getting a nudge from the enemies of freedom to do so.
Mr. McCAUL of Texas. I think if we fail to pass it, we will give the enemies of freedom a victory. That is a victory we cannot afford to turn over. This is the first of many trade agreements. If this does not pass, it takes away, in my view, a lot of credibility on the part of the administration when it goes to other countries and tries to broker agreements. In the defeat of communism, socialism, and the spread of freedom and democracy, that is why I am here tonight. That is why I ran for Congress, and that is why it is so important that this Congress pass this important piece of legislation.
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