[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 26, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5684, UNITED STATES-OMAN FREE TRADE 
                     AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT.

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 20, 2006

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I oppose the Oman Free Trade Agreement (OFTA).
  The Bush administration has again presented the Congress with a 
flawed trade agreement. I support vigorous international trade, but it 
should also be fair trade.
  The inadequate labor provisions in this agreement are almost 
identical to those contained in the flawed Dominican Republic-Central 
American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), which I opposed. After the 
contentious vote on DR-CAFTA, the United States Trade Representative 
said he would address the concerns we raised in future agreements. 
Unfortunately nothing has changed.
  OFTA does little to improve the poor protection for workers in Oman. 
The labor provisions in this trade agreement are lackluster, and will 
be very hard to enforce. This trade agreement asks Oman only to meet 
the lowest possible dominator of labor law. We can and we must do 
better.
  Currently, Oman labor laws do not provide for the freedom to 
associate or the rights to organize and bargain collectively, the most 
fundamental of workers rights. There are no protections for workers who 
want to strike in Oman, and there are no independent unions. Oman has 
said it will change, but it does not have to. These promises should be 
included as requirements in this agreement, not in unenforceable side 
letters.
  As I have said before, international trade is not just inevitable, it 
is a good thing. It has enormous potential to raise standards across 
the globe, disseminate technology and encourage economic growth. But 
lowering the cost of goods and increasing their availability is not the 
single goal of trade. Trade should also lift the global standard of 
living. Trade agreements are not just about goods and commodities; they 
are also about what constitutes acceptable behavior in workers' rights, 
environmental matters, intellectual property, and so forth. We should 
make sure we export the goods we produce and not the workers who 
produce them. Like the DR-CAFTA and Bahrain Free Trade Agreements, the 
Oman Free Trade Agreement does not pass these tests. The agreement 
before us fails both parties: it will not help either America's or 
Oman's workers.
  Each new trade agreement entered into by the United States ought to 
be closely scrutinized, and ought to include the strongest enforceable 
worker rights and environmental safeguards attainable. We know how to 
craft such agreements, for example the U.S.-Jordan Agreement of 2000 
was a fair and good agreement. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration 
has abandoned that successful format and pushed ahead with a trade 
policy that only looks at the bottom line, rather than the workers who 
produced the goods or the environment they live in and rely upon for 
sustainable growth.
  We need to go back to the successful format that incorporates 
American values into our trade agreements. This would ensure that U.S. 
companies and employees are not forced to compete with countries that 
have no or weak labor laws, poor working conditions, and a willingness 
to debase the environment for the short term. The people of all 
countries lose in such a ``race to the bottom''.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot support OFTA or other flawed trade agreements.

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