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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Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in supporting the best interests of our Nation by passing DR-CAFTA. I support CAFTA because it is deeply in our national interest, and it is a progrowth, projob vote.

In the past I have seen the way free trade has revolutionized south Texas, bringing jobs, prosperity and growth to a part of the country that used to be economically underserved. DR-CAFTA will perpetuate that growth, opening export markets to our American farmers and businesses, thereby creating jobs in farming, manufacturing and industry here at home.

When NAFTA was signed in 1993, there were four Presidents, Clinton, Bush, Carter, and Ford, present at the signing. We have a long history of bipartisan cooperation when it comes to the benefits of free trade. I hope to see that tradition continue.

American farmers currently face deep tariffs when exporting their goods to Central America, while 99 percent of the CAFTA agricultural products come into the United States duty free. This is a one-way street that needs to be redrawn into a two-way street, a two-way street of fair trade.

American farmers are struggling against an unfair international trading system, and they are at risk of failing. CAFTA levels that playing field. According to the American Farm Bureau, CAFTA would expand U.S. farm exports by $1.5 billion per year. CAFTA is also going to bring major gains to U.S. manufacturing. The National Association of Manufacturers recently reported that as a direct result of DR-CAFTA, U.S. manufacturers stand to gain approximately 12,000 new job opportunities for American workers.

CAFTA will also create tremendous job opportunities for the 13,000 American small businesses that are currently already exporting to those Central America countries. The economic opportunities created by DR-CAFTA will bring new jobs and the possibility of a middle-class life to millions of Central Americans who are currently living in poverty. If we create economic opportunities in those countries, fewer will be forced to flee to the United States out of economic desperation.

The prosperity created by CAFTA will act as the foundation for more a stable and democratic future for Central America.

Mr. Speaker, trade has the power to change the world. Out of all the policy instruments that we have here in Washington, few have as much power to change lives, bring hope, and draw people together in a rising tide of prosperity as our ability to promote free and fair trade.

I am a supporter of DR-CAFTA because I think it is not only as a smart policy of the United States, but also it is a way to change our whole atmosphere for the better.

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