[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1665]
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. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 2005

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I voted against the Dominican 
Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. As negotiated by the 
Bush Administration, it fails the fundamental tests that our trade 
agreements should meet.
  First, our trade agreements must be structured to raise labor 
standards, not put downward pressures on the rights and protections of 
American workers. All workers--in the U.S., the Dominican Republic and 
Central America--deserve fair wages, safe workplaces, and reasonable 
working conditions.
  Second, all citizens--in the U.S., the Dominican Republic and Central 
America--deserve clean air and clean water. Polluting factories that 
poison our environment should not be located in San Salvador or San 
Jose, any more than they should be in Baraboo or Beloit, or Waunakee or 
Wisconsin Dells.
  The United States should be a leader in the world in raising 
standards for everyone. DR-CAFTA was an opportunity to enshrine these 
fundamental protections in a model trade agreement that could have 
served as a template for raising working standards, wages, safety and 
environmental protections around the world. Instead, it is an 
opportunity squandered.
  Unfortunately, even more than an opportunity squandered, it threatens 
to undermine those very protections that American workers and their 
families have every right to expect. We need a truly fair trade deal. 
DR-CAFTA isn't fair, and it isn't a deal.

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