Opposed to CAFTA

OPPOSED TO CAFTA -- (House of Representatives - April 21, 2005)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sánchez) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, otherwise known as CAFTA. As many of my colleagues here know, CAFTA is nothing more than a green light for corporations to outsource American jobs.

I am appalled by some of the awful provisions in this shameful trade agreement. When you look at the restrictions on Central American workers and the outsourcing of American jobs, you will quickly realize that there is nothing free about the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

My friends, make no mistake, if we ratify this agreement there will be no jobs left in this country to outsource. Did we not learn anything as a body from the NAFTA agreement? The lesson we should have learned from NAFTA was that not all free trade agreements give us fair trade.

For instance, NAFTA, which was supposed to be this great jobs creator, middle class creator in Mexico, failed to create the middle class that it promised. Since NAFTA, the rich are getting richer in Mexico while poverty and income disparity are more prevalent than ever. As NAFTA failed to protect the middle class, so will CAFTA.

Congress needs to step up and tell the administration that worker protections matter. We need to do what is right and support trade policy that is fair and balanced. We need to do what is right and make agreements that strengthen labor protections, not overlook them. We need to do what is right for safeguarding the environment. We need to do what is right for all working people and scrap this terrible agreement. We have a moral obligation to make trade fair for all Americans and the rest of the world.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?r109:./temp/~r1098IZLRX