[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 152 (Wednesday, October 12, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PANAMA AND COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 12, 2011

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, to provide qualified support 
of the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and to express my 
opposition to the U.S.-Colombia and U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreements.
  The original Panama and Colombia FTAs, negotiated by the Bush 
Administration, were fatally flawed. The Democratic congressional 
leadership negotiated substantial improvements to the accords, among 
them ensuring that generic medicines could be made available in these 
countries at the same time as the United States. There is no reason 
that intellectual property rules in free trade agreements should force 
our trading partners in the developing world to wait longer than the 
United States to have access to affordable medicines, and I strongly 
believe that we need to make more progress on this issue in future 
agreements. I am deeply concerned that the proposal USTR has made for 
the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) may result in generic medicines 
becoming available in TPP developing countries later than in the United 
States. Denying poor countries access to generic competition can mean 
the difference between life and death. I am prepared to support the 
Panama FTA, consistent with my previous support of the Peru FTA, 
because the issue of access to medicines is positively addressed; and I 
will continue to argue that, at the minimum, the precedent in the Peru 
and Panama treaties be followed.
  Unfortunately, I regret I am unable to support the Colombia Free 
Trade Agreement. Colombia is a great friend of the United States. We 
are strong economic partners and have strong cultural ties. And 
Colombia has been an important ally at the UN Security Council, 
opposing the unilateral bid for statehood for Palestine. But this trade 
agreement contains a fatal flaw at the heart of what trade must be 
about: raising the quality of life for the people living and working 
here in the United States and in the countries we trade with. Jobs, job 
security, and labor rights are fundamental to a successful trade 
relationship. Regrettably, Colombia has had a long and painful struggle 
with labor abuses and violence and retribution against labor rights 
activists. Although Colombia has taken significant steps to reform 
labor and workplace protections by carrying out the Action Plan on 
Workers Rights that was negotiated with the help of the Obama 
Administration, the plan is not yet fully implemented and significant 
benchmarks for labor reform are still outstanding. Moreover, the 
Republican leadership has refused to allow the Action Plan to be 
referenced in the FTA implementing legislation we are voting on today. 
If the Action Plan had been incorporated directly into this 
legislation, I would have been inclined to vote for the Colombia FTA 
today. But this inherent deficiency prevents me from supporting this 
measure for a country I respect and value as a strategic ally.
  Finally, I regret that I am unable to support the U.S.-South Korea 
Trade Agreement. I am pleased that the agreement makes transformative 
progress in copyright protection by strengthening enforcement against 
counterfeits and extending intellectual property protection to the 
digital and online domain. But the agreement includes a harmful 
provision exempting American vehicles from South Korea's progressive 
greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards. I have consistently believed 
in the principle that trade agreements negotiated by the United States 
should not compromise environmental standards in the US or abroad, and 
I believe the provisions in this FTA, by weakening South Korea's 
overall environmental benchmarks, sets a dangerous precedent for future 
FTAs. The global market for automobiles increasingly demands more fuel 
efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. We should strengthen 
the competitiveness of our auto industry by raising our own standards, 
not by weakening those of others.
  I am disappointed that further progress on these core issues could 
not be made as the Colombia and Korea trade agreements were finalized. 
I remain committed to strong economic ties between the United States 
and these vital markets in Latin America and Asia.

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