[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 38 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3317-S3318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 100--DISAPPROVING THE REQUEST OF THE PRESIDENT FOR 
   EXTENSION UNDER SECTION 2103(C)(1)(B)(I) OF THE BIPARTISAN TRADE 
  PROMOTION AUTHORITY ACT OF 2002, OF THE TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITIES 
                             UNDER THAT ACT

  Mr. DORGAN (for himself and Mr. Byrd) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance:

                              S. Res. 100

       Resolved, That the Senate disapproves the request of the 
     President for the extension, under section 2103(c)(1)(B)(i) 
     of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002, of 
     the trade authorities procedures under that Act to any 
     implementing bill submitted with respect to any trade 
     agreement entered into under section 2103(b) of that Act 
     after June 30, 2005.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, today I am submitting a resolution to 
disapprove of the extension of ``trade promotion authority,'' better 
known as ``fast track,'' for trade agreements.
  In 2002, the U.S. Congress decided to tie its hands behind its back 
when it comes to international trade.
  The Constitution, at Article I, Section 8, gives the Congress the 
power to regulate foreign commerce. But in 2002 we handed that 
authority to the President, and effectively gave him a blank check. We 
gave the President the authority to negotiate trade agreements in 
secret, and to bring those agreements back to the Senate for a vote, 
without the possibility of a single amendment being offered.
  What was the result? We saw the signing of agreements like the 
Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. This is an agreement 
that would integrate our economy with those of Costa Rica, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
  Do the American people think this is a good idea? Not on your life, 
certainly not after what they've seen with the NAFTA deal with Mexico. 
CAFTA promises more of the same: U.S. jobs going overseas, as companies 
try to take advantage of low-wage labor in countries with no 
environmental controls.
  If we were able to offer amendments to CAFTA, we could, for instance, 
have meaningful prohibitions on child or sweatshop labor, or pollution 
by overseas factories. Provisions that would protect American workers 
from having to compete with children working in filthy factories for 
pennies a day.
  But that's not the kind of CAFTA agreement that big business wants.

[[Page S3318]]

They want to pole vault over basic labor and environmental laws in our 
country, and just move their factories to countries like Guatemala or 
Honduras.
  I am going to lead the fight against CAFTA in the U.S. Senate. But I 
want to make sure that we get rid of this fast track authority that 
helped create this awful agreement in the first place.
  Well, the legislation that gave fast track authority to the president 
in 2002 said that Congress would get to decide in 2005 whether to 
extend fast track. Any Senator can come to the floor of the Senate and 
offer a resolution saying that we should not extend fast track. And I 
am availing myself of that opportunity today.
  But there is a catch. The supporters of fast track authority buried a 
provision in the 2002 bill, which says that the Senate does not get to 
vote on this resolution unless the Finance Committee first approves it. 
And the staff of Chairman of the Finance Committee has indicated that 
there is no way they are going to allow the Senate to vote on such a 
resolution.
  I don't want to see any more agreements like CAFTA being negotiated 
in secret, and then brought to the U.S. Senate without the possibility 
of even a single amendment. So I am offering today a resolution of 
disapproval for extension of fast track, in accordance with the law.
  And I am going to do everything I can to see to it that the Senate 
gets a chance to vote on this resolution, one way or another.

                          ____________________