III 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 169 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 13, 2005 Mr. Santorum (for himself and Mr. Ensign) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to free trade negotiations that could adversely impact consumers of sugar in the United States as well as United States agriculture and the broader economy of the United States.

Whereas the President concluded negotiations with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic to form the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA–DR); Whereas the CAFTA–DR only provides the 5 Central American countries and the Dominican Republic with modest additional access to the United States sugar market that will have no impact on United States sugar producers; Whereas United States farmers and ranchers need access to new markets to expand the agricultural sector of the United States economy; Whereas the United States manufacturing and service sectors need access to new markets to expand the broader economy of the United States; Whereas new market access for United States products is only possible through comprehensive free trade agreements that include all products and services; Whereas the CAFTA–DR will help build democracy, security, and the rule of law, in addition to helping integrate the economies of the United States and countries in the region; Whereas sugar growers are already one of the most highly protected special interests in the United States; Whereas the provisions of the CAFTA–DR offer protection to United States sugar growers, in addition to the numerous existing mechanisms that have been designed to shield sugar growers from any competition; Whereas the United States sugar program has caused the loss of thousands of jobs in the United States in the sugar product manufacturing and cane refining sector; Whereas every effort has been taken by the administration and Congress to accommodate the United States sugar growers, but they continue to oppose the CAFTA–DR and any free trade agreement containing new market access for sugar; and Whereas the United States sugar growers’ intransigence in wanting to exclude sugar from all future trade agreements threatens to undermine trade opportunities for United States agriculture and the rest of the United States economy: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the Senate that the President should negotiate and sign free trade agreements that are comprehensive in scope in order to ensure that the entire United States economy can benefit from new market opportunities provided by such agreements.