[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11912-S11913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         AMENDMENTS TO S. 1269

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, at this moment I am filing at the desk four 
amendments that at the appropriate time I would make efforts to attach 
to S. 1269, the fast-track legislation.
  The chairman is on the floor and I would provide him with a packet of 
information as it relates to these amendments. None of us yet know the 
fate of fast track or if the House will be able to engender the 
necessary votes to pass this legislation.
  Clearly, I think the proper refinement of fast track broadens its 
ability to be passed and to become law, and it becomes very important 
to all of us, if that is the case, that it does. I have reservations 
about giving the President this authority, and yet at the same time I 
have not stood in the way that the process be expedited to get it to 
the floor for a vote. But the amendments that I am filing this 
afternoon that I think are important are a product of the frustrations 
that American producers have experienced as a result of the mid-1980's 
North American Canadian Free-Trade Agreement and then, of course, 
NAFTA, the North American Free-Trade Agreement in the early 1990's.
  One of my amendments deals with the commodity problems that we have 
primarily in agriculture but also in the forest products industry 
between Canada and the United States. The flow of commodity interest is 
largely one way at this moment, from Canada into the United States--
live cattle impacting our markets, grain bypassing through the Canadian 
Grain Board, the protocol of the North American Free-Trade Agreement. 
We have just had disputes with Canada over poultry and dairy products. 
We now see a flood of potatoes coming out of Canada, potatoes last year 
that depressed the United States producer price to almost a historic 
low level, putting farmers in Idaho, Washington, and Maine in jeopardy.
  As a result of that, one of my amendments would establish a bilateral 
joint commission to identify and recommend means of resolving national 
regional and provincial trading or trade distortions and differences 
between the United States and Canada with respect to the production, 
processing and sales of agricultural commodities. I have explained the 
reason why, and if we get

[[Page S11913]]

to the appropriate time I hope that the chairman and the full Senate 
would look upon that kind of amendment in favorable light.
  Another amendment that I think certainly the chairman and the Senate 
would look favorably on is an amendment to enforce the S. 1296 ban on 
extraneous provisions. This amendment would provide effective 
enforcement provisions already in the bill.
  As reported, S. 1269 prohibits extraneous provisions from being 
included in trade agreement bills considered under fast track. The bill 
limits fast-track trade bill provisions to those necessary or related 
to the implementation of a trade agreement, or not necessary to comply 
with the Budget Act.
  This is a major improvement, I think, over previous fast-track 
legislation. However, S. 1269 currently contains no effective 
enforcement of this provision. Let's remember the North American Free-
Trade Agreement and what we fell into there. We forced small business 
people to have to go to computerized methods of accounting and 
withholding. That was a tax increase, in so many words, that was 
inflicted upon us in a ``take it or leave it'' proposition. What my 
amendment would do is prohibit that kind of extraneous material, or any 
hidden tax that might come sneaking through, if you will, in a trade 
agreement of the kind the President would be allowed to negotiate under 
fast track.
  Also, I have offered an amendment that would require domestic tax 
increases to be amendable, and that adds to the strength of the 
amendment I have just offered.
  Those are the three. The other one is a clarification of the standard 
for the importation of firearms. This amendment is aimed at clarifying 
current law and preventing the administration from continuing to abuse 
its trade authority to carry out a political agenda against firearms. 
Even for firearm imports, there needs to be a meeting of a standard and 
a test. We think the administration has gone well beyond that.
  That is the essence of the amendments that I have filed. Depending on 
how we get to the issue of fast track and what the House is able to do 
in the coming hours could determine our ability here in the Senate to 
perfect or to shape the fast-track agreement.
  With that, I will file those amendments and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.

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