[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 153 (Wednesday, November 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS UNIFIED IN OPPOSITION TO FAST TRACK

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the major environmental organizations, some 
of which were strong supporters of NAFTA in 1993, have expressed their 
opposition to the current fast track proposals moving through the House 
and Senate. The National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon 
Society, and Defenders of Wildlife have joined with the Sierra Club, 
Friends of the Earth, and dozens of other grassroots environmental 
organizations around the country who oppose this legislation.
  The debate currently raging over fast track is not a question of 
whether the United States enters into a global economy, it is a 
question of how we participate in that economy, and whether we should 
sacrifice the rights of workers in this country and around the world in 
the name of free trade. It is a question of whether we should 
capitulate to multinational corporations which would bargain down the 
environmental protection standards of nations around the world in the 
name of competitiveness.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States cannot afford to encourage a race to 
the bottom when it comes to preserving the global environmental or the 
rights of workers to a safe workplace and a fair wage. We should vote 
down this fast track legislation when it comes up at the end of this 
week.

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