[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 16, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11577-S11579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 69--PROVIDING THAT ANY AGREEMENT RELATING
TO TRADE AND INVESTMENT THAT IS NEGOTIATED BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH WITH
OTHER COUNTRIES MUST COMPLY WITH CERTAIN MINIMUM STANDARDS
Mr. FEINGOLD submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Finance:
S. Con. Res. 69
Whereas there is general consensus among the American
public and the global community that, with respect to
international trade and investment rules--
(1) global environmental, labor, health, food security, and
other public interest standards must be strengthened to
prevent a global ``race to the bottom'';
(2) domestic environmental, labor, health, food security,
and other public interest standards and policies must not be
undermined, including those based on the use of the
precautionary principle, the internationally recognized legal
principle which holds that, when there is scientific
uncertainty regarding the potential adverse effects of an
action or a product or technology, governments should act in
a way that minimizes the risk of harm to human health and the
environment;
(3) provision and regulation of public services such as
education, health care, transportation, energy, water, and
other utilities are basic functions of democratic government
and must not be undermined;
(4) raising standards in developing countries requires
additional assistance and respect for diversity of policies
and priorities;
(5) countries must be allowed to design and implement
policies to sustain family farms and achieve food security;
(6) healthy national economies are essential to a healthy
global economy, and the right of governments to pursue
policies to maintain and create jobs must be upheld;
(7) the right of State and local and comparable regional
governments of all countries to create and enforce diverse
policies must be safeguarded from imposed downward
harmonization; and
(8) rules for the global economy must be developed and
implemented democratically and with transparency and
accountability; and
Whereas many international trade and investment agreements
in existence and currently being negotiated do not serve
these interests, and have caused substantial harm to the
health and well-being of communities in the United States and
within countries that are trading partners of the United
States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That any agreement relating to trade and
investment that is negotiated by the executive branch with
other countries should comply with the following:
(1) Regarding investor and investment policy.--No such
agreement that includes provisions relating to foreign
investment may permit foreign investors to challenge or seek
compensation because of a measure of a government at the
national, State, or local level that protects the public
interest, including, but not limited to, public health,
safety, and welfare, the environment, and worker protections,
unless a foreign investor demonstrates that the measure was
enacted or applied primarily for the purpose of
discriminating against foreign investors or investments.
(2) Regarding services.--Any such agreement, to the extent
applicable, shall comply with the following:
(A)(i) The agreement may not discipline government measures
relating to--
(I) public services, including public services for which
the government is not the sole provider;
(II) services that require extensive regulation;
(III) essential human services; and
(IV) services that have an essentially social component.
(ii) The services described in subclauses (I) through (IV)
of clause (i) include, but are not limited to, public benefit
programs, health care, health insurance, public health, child
care, education and training, the distribution of controlled
substances and products, including alcohol and tobacco and
firearms, research and development on natural and social
sciences, utilities including energy utilities, water, waste
disposal and sanitation, national security, maritime, air,
surface, and other transportation services, postal services,
energy extraction and related services, and correctional
services.
(B) The agreement shall permit countries that have made
commitments in areas covered in subparagraph (A) to revise
those commitments for the purposes of public interest
regulation without financial or other trade-related
penalties.
(C) The agreement shall ensure that rules on subsidies and
government procurement fully protect the ability of
governments to support and purchase services in ways that
promote economic development, social justice and equity,
public health, environmental quality, and human and workers'
rights.
(D) The agreement shall make no new commitments on the
temporary entry of workers because such policies should be
determined by the Congress, after consideration by the
congressional committees with jurisdiction over immigration
to avoid an array of inconsistent policies and policies which
fail to--
(i) include labor market tests that ensure that the
employment of such temporary workers will not adversely
affect other similarly employed workers;
(ii) involve labor unions in the labor certification
process implemented under the immigration program for
temporary workers under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, including the filing by an
employer of an application under section 212(n)(1) of that
Act; and
(iii) guarantee the same workplace protections for
temporary workers that are available to all workers.
(E) The agreement shall guarantee that all governments that
are parties to the agreement can regulate foreign investors
in services and other service providers in order to protect
public health and safety, consumers, the environment, and
workers' rights, without requiring the governments to
establish their regulations to be the least burdensome option
for foreign service providers.
(3) Regarding policies to support american workers and
small, minority, and women-owned businesses.--Any such
agreement shall preserve the right of Federal, State, and
local governments to maintain or establish policies to
support American workers and small, minority, or women-owned
businesses, including, but not limited to, policies with
respect to government procurement, loans, and subsidies.
(4) Regarding environmental, labor, and other public
interest standards.--Any such agreement--
(A) may not supersede the rights and obligations of parties
under multilateral environmental, labor, and human rights
agreements; and
(B) shall, to the extent applicable, include commitments,
subject to binding enforcement on the same terms as
commercial provisions--
(i) to adhere to specified workers' rights and
environmental standards;
(ii) not to diminish or fail to enforce existing domestic
labor and environmental provisions; and
(iii) to abide by the core labor standards of the
International Labor Organization (ILO).
(5) Regarding united states trade laws.--No such agreement
may--
(A) contain a provision which modifies or amends, or
requires a modification of or an amendment to, any law of the
United States that provides to United States businesses or
workers safeguards from unfair foreign trade practices,
including any law providing for--
(i) the imposition of countervailing or antidumping duties;
[[Page S11578]]
(ii) protection from unfair methods of competition or
unfair acts in the importation of articles;
(iii) relief from injury caused by import competition;
(iv) relief from unfair trade practices; or
(v) the imposition of import restrictions to protect the
national security; or
(B) weaken the existing terms of the Agreement on
Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade 1994, or the Agreement on Subsidies and
Countervailing Measures, of the World Trade Organization,
including through the domestic implementation of rulings of
dispute settlement bodies.
(6) Regarding food safety.--No such agreement may--
(A) restrict the ability of the United States to ensure
that food products entering the United States are rigorously
inspected to establish that they meet all food safety
standards in the United States, including inspection
standards;
(B) force acceptance of different food safety standards as
``equivalent'', or require international harmonization of
food safety standards, which undermine the level of human
health protection provided under domestic law; or
(C) restrict the ability of governments to enact policies
to guarantee the right of consumers to know where and how
their food is produced.
(7) Regarding agriculture and food security.--No such
agreement may, with respect to food and other agricultural
commodities--
(A) contain provisions that prevent countries from--
(i) establishing domestic and global reserves,
(ii) managing supply,
(iii) enforcing antidumping disciplines,
(iv) ensuring fair market prices, or
(v) vigorously enforcing antitrust laws,
in order to guarantee competitive markets for family farmers;
or
(B) prevent countries from developing the necessary
sanitary and phytosanitary standards to prevent the
introduction of pathogens or other potentially invasive
species which may adversely affect agriculture, human health,
or the environment.
(8) Regarding transparency.--(A) The process of negotiating
any such agreement must be open and transparent, including
through--
(i) prompt and regular disclosure of full negotiating
texts; and
(ii) prompt and regular disclosure of negotiating positions
of the United States.
(B) In negotiating any such agreement, any request or offer
relating to investment, procurement, or trade in services
must be made public within 10 days after its submission if
such request or offer--
(i) proposes specific Federal, State, and local laws and
regulations in the United States to be changed, eliminated,
or scheduled under such an agreement, including, but not
limited to, subsidies, tax rules, procurement rules,
professional standards, and rules on temporary entry of
persons;
(ii) proposes for coverage under such an agreement--
(I) specific essential public services, including, but not
limited to, public benefits programs, health care, education,
national security, sanitation, water, energy, and other
utilities; or
(II) private service sectors that require extensive
regulation or have an inherently social component, including,
but not limited to, maritime, air transport, trucking, and
other transportation services, postal services, utilities
such as water, energy, and sanitation, corrections, education
and childcare, and health care; or
(iii) proposes a discipline or process of general
application which may interfere with the ability of the
United States or State, local, or tribal governments to
adopt, implement, or enforce laws and regulations identified
in clause (i) or provide or regulate services identified in
clause (ii).
(C) The broad array of constituencies representing the
majority of the people of the United States, including labor
unions, environmental organizations, consumer groups, family
farm groups, public health advocates, faith-based
organizations, and civil rights groups, must have at least
the same representation on trade advisory committees and
access to trade negotiators and negotiating fora as those
constituencies representing commercial interests.
(D) Any dispute resolution mechanism established in any
such agreement must be open and transparent, including
through disclosure to the public of documents and access to
hearings, and must permit participation by nonparties through
the filing of amicus briefs, as well as provide for standing
for State and local governments as intervenors.
(9) Regarding governmental authority.--No such agreement
may contain provisions that bind national, State, local, or
comparable regional governments to limiting regulatory,
taxation, spending, or procurement authority without an
opportunity for public review and comment described in
paragraph (8), and without the explicit, informed consent of
the national, State, local, or comparable regional
legislative body concerned, through such means as is decided
by such legislative body.
(10) Regarding access to medicines and seeds.--(A) No such
agreement may contain provisions that prevent countries from
taking measures to protect public health by ensuring access
to medicines.
(B) No such agreement may constrain the rights of farmers
to save, use, exchange, or sell farm-saved seeds and other
publicly available seed varieties.
(11) Regarding developing countries.--Any such agreement
must grant special and differential treatment for developing
countries with regard to the timeframe for implementation of
the agreement as well as other concerns.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am pleased to submit legislation to
establish some minimum standards for the trade agreements into which
our Nation enters. This measure is a companion to H. Con. Res. 276, a
resolution introduced in the other body by my colleague from Ohio, (Mr.
Brown).
The record of the major trade agreements into which our Nation has
entered over the past few years has been dismal. Thanks in great part
to the flawed fast track rules that govern consideration of legislation
implementing trade agreements, the United States has entered into a
number of trade agreements that have contributed to the significant job
loss we have seen in recent years, and have laid open to assault
various laws and regulations established to protect workers, the
environment, and our health and safety. Indeed, those agreements
undermine the very democratic institutions through which we govern
ourselves.
The loss of jobs, especially manufacturing jobs, to other countries
has been devastating to Wisconsin, and to the entire country. When I
opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Uruguay round of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Permanent Normal Trade
Relations for China, and other flawed trade measures, I did so in great
part because I believed they would lead to a significant loss of jobs.
But even as an opponent of those agreements, I don't think I could have
imagined just how bad things would get in so short a time.
The trade policy of this country over the past several years has been
appalling. The trade agreements into which we have entered have
contributed to the loss of key employers, ravaging entire communities.
But despite that clear evidence, we continue to see trade agreements
being reached that will only aggravate this problem.
This has to stop. We cannot afford to pursue trade policies that gut
our manufacturing sector and send good jobs overseas. We cannot afford
to undermine the protections we have established for workers, the
environment, and our public health and safety. And we cannot afford to
squander our democratic heritage by entering into trade agreements that
supercede our right to govern ourselves through open, democratic
institutions.
The legislation I submit today sets forth principles for future trade
agreements. It is a break with the so-called NAFTA model, and instead
advocates the kinds of sound trade policies that will spur economic
growth and sustainable development.
The principles set forth in this resolution are not complex. They are
straightforward and achievable. The resolution calls for enforceable
worker protections, including the core International Labor Organization
standards.
It preserves the ability of the United States to enact and enforce
its own trade laws.
It protects foreign investors, but states that foreign investors
should not be provided with greater rights than those provided under
U.S. law, and it protects public interest laws from challenge by
foreign investors in secret tribunals.
It ensures that food entering into our country meets domestic food
safety standards.
It preserves the ability of Federal, State, and local governments to
maintain essential public services and to regulate private sector
services in the public interest.
It requires that trade agreements contain environmental provisions
subject to the same enforcement as commercial provisions.
It preserves the right of Federal, State, and local governments to
use procurement as a policy tool, including through Buy American laws,
environmental laws such as recycled content, and purchasing preferences
for small, minority, or women-owned businesses.
It requires that trade negotiations and the implementation of trade
agreements be conducted openly.
These are sensible policies. They are entirely consistent with the
goal of increased international commerce, and in fact they advance that
goal.
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The outgrowth of the major trade agreements I referenced earlier has
been a race to the bottom in labor standards, environmental standards,
health and safety standards, in nearly every aspect of our economy. A
race to the bottom is a race in which even the winners lose.
We need to turn our trade policies around. We need to pursue trade
agreements that will promote sustainable economic growth for our Nation
and for our trading partners. The resolution I submit today will begin
to put us on that path, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
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