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Reject Oman Free Trade Agreement

Date: July 19, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Trade


REJECT OMAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT -- (House of Representatives - July 19, 2006)

(Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Oman Free Trade Agreement. This deal is an expansion of a failed trade model that does not guarantee even the most basic labor standards, and it is simply unacceptable.

We are talking about an agreement with a country that our own State Department says does not meet the minimum requirements for trafficking people into forced labor. Even more shocking, labor unions don't even exist in Oman. Instead, workers are supposed to be represented by committees that actually are run by management.

In fact, Oman has only fixed one out of 10 areas where they are not compliant with the ILO. This is unacceptable.

We cannot preach about spreading freedom and opportunity around the world while ignoring the lack of labor and human rights standards in our trade bills. I urge my colleagues to reject the Oman Free Trade Agreement.

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