[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 28 (Thursday, March 10, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE FAILURE OF CAFTA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, this is the face of CAFTA. This photo 
was taken by Reuters News Service yesterday in Guatemala as police 
forces used tear gas and water cannons to beat back hundreds of 
demonstrators who had united to speak out against the Central American 
Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA. This is the face of CAFTA.
  More than 25,000 letters have been signed by workers in Guatemala 
begging their Congress not to rush through this bad trade agreement. 
Throughout the developing world, from Guatemala to every other 
developing country, workers do not share in the wealth they create. 
Nike workers in Vietnam cannot afford the shoes they make. Disney 
workers in Costa Rica cannot buy the toys for their children. Motorola 
workers in Malaysia are unable to purchase the cell phones.
  The North American Free Trade Agreement promised to create a thriving 
middle class in Mexico, to raise wages and lift people out of poverty. 
A dozen years later, there is no middle class realizing their dreams. 
Instead, there is a fallen minimum wage and the ongoing nightmare of 
abject poverty despite the backbreaking work and deplorable working 
conditions.
  Now President Bush wants to expand this failed trade agreement with 
CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement, a dysfunctional cousin 
of NAFTA, involving five Central American countries: Costa Rica, 
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. CAFTA nations are not 
only among the world's poorest countries; they are also among its 
smallest economies. With a $62 billion combined economic output, about 
that of Columbus, Ohio, these countries can hardly serve as a growth 
engine for the $10 trillion U.S. economy. CAFTA is more about access to 
cheap labor and exporting American jobs than exporting American goods.
  Trade pacts like NAFTA and CAFTA enable companies to exploit cheap 
labor in other countries, then import their products back to the U.S. 
under favorable terms. As a result, our country, especially my State of 
Ohio, bleed manufacturing jobs and run unprecedented trade deficits.
  Gregory Mankiw, the President's former chief economist, portrays the 
exporting of jobs as inevitable and desirable, saying, ``When a good or 
service is produced more cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import 
it than to provide it domestically.''
  Mr. Speaker, I would say to Mr. Mankiw that what really makes sense 
is a trade policy that lifts workers up in rich and poor countries 
alike while respecting human rights and democratic principles.
  Proof that CAFTA is a legacy of failed trade policies is evidenced in 
Congress' own inaction. Since 2001, Congress typically votes within 8 
weeks, about 60 days, of President Bush signing a trade agreement. 
Nearly 300 days have elapsed since President Bush signed the Central 
American Free Trade Agreement. That delay is proof that CAFTA is a 
failure and further proof of CAFTA's failure can be seen in this photo 
when police have turned on their own protesting public, people who are 
exercising their rights simply to petition their Congress and ask that 
they not pass this trade agreement.
  And yet, the U.S. continues to push for more of the same, more trade 
agreements that ship jobs overseas, more trade agreements that neglect 
essential environmental standards, more trade agreements that keep 
foreign workers in poverty.
  Madness, Mr. Speaker, is repeating the same action over and over and 
expecting a different result. The United States, with its unrivaled 
purchasing power and our enormous economic clout, we are in a unique 
position to help empower poor workers in the developing world while 
promoting prosperity at home. When the world's poorest people can buy 
American products rather than just make them, then we will know that 
our trade policies are finally working.

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