[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 97 (Friday, July 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 19, 2006

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, honest and fair trade will help the 
U.S. and other countries grow more prosperous and stable. Trade 
barriers, quotas, and restrictions hurt all but a select few by raising 
prices for consumers, limiting economic growth, and restricting the 
ability of developing countries to improve their economies. However, I 
do not support free trade at any cost. There must be strong protections 
to ensure that workers benefit from trade, that the environment is 
protected, and that we provide the necessary help to those who lose out 
from increased trade.
  Before the 2002 vote on ``fast-track'' trade promotion authority, I 
told President Bush in a meeting that he could gain broad bi-partisan 
support for a trade policy that expanded markets for U.S. products and 
helped developing countries grow themselves out of poverty if he made 
simple, small changes to the trade agreement model to take into account 
concerns over labor, the environment, and farmers in developing 
countries. However, the Oman Free Trade Agreement continues President 
Bush's tradition of pushing forward harsh and divisive agreements, 
designed to pass by the smallest of margins.
  For example, the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to 
recommend that the trade agreement exclude items made with forced 
labor, slave labor, or trafficked persons. Despite this, the President 
refused to make these simple changes that Congress demanded.
  Questions of how the United States engages in an increasingly global 
economy are too critical to our future to use as partisan and political 
wedges. We must develop a forward-thinking and honest trade policy that 
can be broadly supported by Americans of all political stripes and that 
reflects the concerns that I hear from Oregonians. Because the Oman 
Free Trade Agreement doesn't meet that test, I must oppose it.

                          ____________________