[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1662-E1663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-CENTRAL AMERICA-UNITED STATES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT 
                           IMPLEMENTATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ELLEN O. TAUSCHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 2005

  Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong 
opposition to the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade 
Agreement and intend to vote against it.
  I am proud to be a pro-trade Democrat in Congress and am proud of my 
record--having supported every free trade agreement since I took office 
in 1997.
  I voted in favor of granting the President Trade Promotion Authority 
in 2002 and voted against withdrawing from the World Trade Organization 
in 2000 and again earlier this year.
  I am a longtime member, and the current chair of the New Democrat 
Coalition, a group of members who often support free trade. We see our 
role as a group of pro-business, pro-defense, and pro-trade leaning 
members who seek ways to open foreign markets to American goods and 
services. I also co-chair the Friends of New Zealand Caucus in the 
House, and hope we may soon see a free trade agreement with New 
Zealand.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that free trade, when organized properly, 
benefits our economy. It can only help to improve our relations with 
the other countries involved.
  In the case of CAFTA, I want to see our Nation maintain close ties 
with our neighbors in Central America. Our economic security and our 
national security depend on cooperative relationships with our friends 
and allies.
  However, in pursuing free trade, we must also consider the impact and 
direct effects the agreements will have on workers--both here and 
abroad.
  And CAFTA fails to provide adequate protection.
  It simply does not do enough to invest in basic job training and 
education for Americans--specifically those Americans who lose their 
jobs due to trade.
  The current budget for Trade Adjustment Assistance is insufficient: 
the President's 2005 request was $300 million less than Congress 
authorized for FY 2004, despite the obvious needs for job training and 
retraining. What's worse, Mr. Speaker, is that CAFTA does not provide 
any TAA funds for service workers, who comprise 80 percent of today's 
American workforce and produce three-quarters of our products. When job 
training programs go under funded, American workers are at risk.
  Furthermore, CAFTA is the first FTA negotiated by the United States 
with developing countries, some of which have weak labor laws and a 
history of suppressing the rights of their workers.
  We need to do all in our power to ensure that this agreement helps 
these countries raise their working standards. Unfortunately, the labor 
chapter requires that each country simply enforce its existing laws. It 
does nothing to require the DR-CAFTA countries improve their laws to 
reflect fairness to working people. There are also no safeguards in the 
agreement to prevent countries from explicitly weakening their labor 
laws. This ``enforce your own laws'' standard is a giant step 
backwards. Under our current trade policy, the Caribbean Basin 
Initiative allows us to withdraw trade benefits from countries who 
violate the labor standards of the agreements they have signed. If 
CAFTA goes into effect, those remedies are wiped out and simply 
replaced with the ``enforce your own laws'' standard.
  This labor agreement is simply unacceptable.
  And finally Mr. Speaker, I feel compelled to say a word about the 
legislative process here in Congress. I would be remiss if I did not do 
so.
  This Administration has made a habit of regularly excluding Democrats 
from the table during the negotiation and drafting of all major 
legislation. We saw this with the energy bill, the Medicare 
prescription drug bill, and again with CAFTA. We were not consulted at 
all on this FTA.
  We all have valid ideas and concerns worthy of discussion regarding 
improving international market economies and they need to be fully and 
fairly debated. That did not happen with CAFTA. We were not engaged. I 
thought that at some point in the process members of the New Democrat 
Coalition would be consulted, as we generally support free trade. 
However, I was wrong. There was no outreach from House leaders or from 
the President to us.
  One would think that after the passage of Trade Promotion Authority 
in 2002--by a 3 vote margin--a clear signal was sent to the

[[Page E1663]]

Administration that passing free trade agreements will not be easy. 
Everyone ought to be at the table. Instead of heeding past warnings, 
they have continued to make a habit of regularly excluding Democrats. 
CAFTA has been no exception.
  As a result of poor negotiations with the Democrats and a lack of 
steady involvement by the President with members of his own party, on 
the day of the CAFTA vote, President Bush made an eleventh hour trip to 
Congress to twist arms in hopes of squeaking out the minimum number of 
votes needed to pass this agreement.
  Mr. Speaker, trade should not be a Republican or Democrat issue. It 
is an American issue. Passing trade agreements by one or two votes, in 
the dead of night when both the American and Central American people 
are sleeping, is not the way to have a responsible trade policy.
  Both the people of Central America and workers here in the United 
States deserve better.

                          ____________________