[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H14231-H14232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GOLD, SILVER, COPPER AND THE PERU FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I wish to review a recent vote that was held 
here in this Congress regarding the so-called Peru Free Trade 
Agreement, and to encourage the American people to read the fine print 
and to pay attention to the connection between that Peru vote and the 
value of the U.S. dollar and some hidden forces that may have been 
responsible for bringing that vote on Peru to the forefront now. 
Because people in my district were saying, why vote on Peru now? Why 
vote on another NAFTA-like accord on trade when our balance of trade is 
so seriously out of whack? Let me mention for the Record, and I will 
place these articles in the Record this evening; Peru is the world's 
third largest producer of copper, zinc and tin. It is the biggest 
producer of silver, and is the fifth largest producer of gold. In fact, 
Peru has the largest gold mine in this hemisphere owned by an American 
company.
  Many workers in the mines in Peru went on strike. Over 6,300 workers 
took their lives in their hands the Monday before the vote trying to 
send a message to the people of the United States and this Congress 
that they are treated unfairly, the wages they earn, conditions under 
which they work, their ability to share in profits, the ability to have 
decent pensions; all of those were very important issues. Their

[[Page H14232]]

voices were hardly heard. It does not mean that they were not speaking 
truth to power; it means that certain ears here in Washington may have 
been closed, but they still spoke to us.
  Mr. Speaker, the dollar continues its downward spiral. In fact, we 
know the value of our dollar has fallen by nearly a quarter against a 
trade-weighted basket of currencies. And while that dollar is falling, 
other commodities in the market are growing in value. And guess what 
those are. Metals. Metals are constituting a very large share of where 
people are moving assets because the dollar is losing its value. In 
fact, the U.S. Mint just directed that the American people aren't 
supposed to be melting down pennies for the copper content in them.
  The Economist pointed out that in 2002 the euro was worth 86 cents; 
today, it buys $1.48. We know our credit markets are troubled. Credit 
Suisse predicted that gold would top $1,000 an ounce by 2012. There are 
big interests at stake in deals like this deal that was just passed in 
this House for Peru, and gold and silver and copper have a lot to do 
with it.
  In an article entitled, ``Miner Player'' last month in the Economist, 
it reported, ``The net profits of mining companies rose from $4 billion 
in 2002 to $67 billion in 2006.'' They're doing very well, thank you, 
but they are not sharing in that extraordinary increase in wealth with 
their own citizens. In fact, the export of these precious metals 
accounts for over half of Peru's export earnings, over half from mines 
owned by companies in this country. Are you beginning to get the 
picture?
  The overall profitability of these concerns, which was negative in 
1998, is now four times the 7 percent average of growth for the top 500 
companies, and the dominant U.S. import from Peru is? Gold, 
constituting 24 percent of their exports in 2006.
  So, when the miners of Peru, who work under godforsaken, horrendous 
conditions, tried to get our attention, this Congress turned its back. 
You hardly heard anything in the debate, but they were standing tall in 
their villages all across Peru. In fact, what's happening to the 
peasants in Peru is they're being shoved off their land because there 
might be gold underneath it. And they're crying out to us. Will anyone, 
for heaven's sake, will anyone here in this country hear them?
  The article that was published on Monday before the vote indicated 
that Peru's Labor Ministry ordered the miners to go back to work or 
they would lose their jobs. And we were told that, oh, don't worry 
about the vote on Peru because labor conditions in Peru are just 
terrific. Well, the article that came out from Bloomberg News Service 
on November 6 indicated that, in fact, the government had declared the 
mining strike illegal.
  We weren't listening to them. It's really tragic that when an 
agreement comes before us like this, we do not listen to those who are 
the least among us and speak truth to power.
  I place all these articles in the Record this evening.

           Peru To Declare Mines Strike Illegal, Pinilla Says

                            (By Alex Emery)

       Nov. 6 (Bloomberg).--Peru's government will declare a two-
     day national mining strike illegal today, forcing miners to 
     return to work or lose their jobs, Labor Minister Susana 
     Pinilla said.
       The strike, which seeks to pressure companies to improve 
     pensions, profit-sharing and rights for subcontracted 
     workers, is ``politically motivated,'' Pinilla told Lima-
     based CPN Radio.
       ``Union leaders have a different stance that has nothing to 
     do with worker vindication,'' Pinilla said. ``They have led 
     workers into an illegal strike where they could lose their 
     jobs.''
       Strikes this year, including a five-day national walkout by 
     Peruvian miners in May, have cut copper output in Peru, Chile 
     and Mexico, helping to spur a 17 percent rally in the price 
     of the metal. Peru is the world's third-largest producer of 
     copper, zinc and tin, the biggest of silver and fifth-largest 
     of gold.
       The stoppage in Peru has affected mines owned by companies 
     including Southern Copper Corp., Freeport-McMoRan Copper & 
     Gold Inc., Newmont Mining Corp. and Doe Run Resources Corp.
       Workers also are on strike at mines run by Cia. De Minas 
     Buenaventura SA, tin miner Minsur SA, Shougang Hierroperu's 
     iron mine and zinc producers Cia. Minera Raura SA and Cia. 
     Minera Santa Luisa, according to Mining Federation spokesman 
     Cirilo Yarihuaman.


                             Talks Planned

       Southern Copper's Peruvian mines, where 20 percent of 
     workers went on strike, don't expect production losses, 
     parent Grupo Mexico said in a filing to the Mexican Stock 
     Exchange.
       National metals output hasn't been cut and only 6,300 
     workers, or 5.3 percent of Peru's miners, are on strike, 
     Pinilla said. The Mining Federation put the number at 45,000.
       Union leaders planned to hold talks with Cabinet chief 
     Jorge del Castillo and the president of Congress, Luis 
     Gonzales Posada, to pass laws granting miners a 10 percent 
     share of profits, up from the current 8 percent, and eight-
     hour shifts instead of the 12 hours imposed at many mines, 
     Yarihuaman said.
       The federation, which represents 70 unions and 28,000 
     miners, also wants 85,000 subcontracted workers put on 
     company payrolls.
       Copper futures for December delivery rose 3.95 cents, or 
     1.2 percent, to $3.3415 a pound on the Comex division of the 
     New York Mercantile Exchange. Zinc rose $95, or 3.5 percent, 
     to $2,820 a metric ton in London trading, and tin rose $345, 
     or 2.1 percent, to $17,095 a ton.
       Silver for December delivery rose 59.5 cents, or 4 percent, 
     to $15.38 an ounce. Gold for December delivery rose $12.60, 
     or 1.6 percent, to $823.40 an ounce.
       ``The strike in Latin America is quite supportive to 
     prices,'' Dan Smith, an analyst at Standard Chartered Plc in 
     London, said today by phone.
                                  ____


    Protesters Return to Work and End National Mining Strike in Peru

       Peru's Labor Ministry announced today that mining workers 
     had returned to work and ended the strike they began on 
     Monday, November 5.
       The Labor Ministry attributed workers' surrender to the 
     fact that the strike had been declared illegal and that 
     workers had been told they could lose their jobs if they left 
     their workplaces for more than three days.
       Peru's Labor Minister, Susana Pinilla announced on Monday 
     that Peru's National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy and 
     Steel Workers had not formally filed any complaints and that 
     there weren't any issues which had to be resolved. She added 
     that strikes and protests were rights workers had when there 
     were formal requests pending.
       Pinilla clarified that Peru's Labor Ministry had not 
     received any formal complaints and would therefore consider 
     the strike illegal. She suggested that workers find better 
     ways to negotiate their demands.
       Minera Yanacocha. Latin America's largest gold mine, run by 
     reported that the 109 workers, which had taken part in the 
     strike, had returned to work. This was also the case in 
     mining companies such as Chungar, Morococha and Sociedad 
     Minera El Brocal.
       According to the Mining Federation, workers from Casapalca 
     had also abandoned the strike and returned to work. Pinilla 
     stated that the strike had not had a significant impact on 
     mining production, explaining that just over 5 percent 
     (6,300) of workers had taken part in the strike.

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