[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 24041-24042]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     OPPOSE FAST TRACK LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise again in opposition to the so-called 
Fast Track legislation that will be debated in this House over the next 
2 days. I do so for several reasons.
  Firstly, because Fast Track contradicts the clear requirement of the 
United States Constitution, which vests the responsibility in this 
body, in the House of Representatives, to regulate trade with foreign 
nations. It also vests the power in the Congress to make any necessary 
laws for the exercise of that authority.
  Secondly, I oppose Fast Track because it requires that these 
negotiations, very detailed, complicated negotiations, with great 
impact for not only our generation but those to come, it requires that 
these negotiations occur in secret; not in open debate on the floor of 
the House, but in secret.
  I also oppose Fast Track because of our own past experience. We have 
seen what Fast Track has brought us, and we have been shown that it is 
a poor way to conduct, establish, and implement trade policy.
  We have seen what it has done for workers, both in the United States 
and Mexico, through the example of NAFTA. We see now multinational 
corporations, General Motors, closing down plants in the U.S. and 
moving them over the border into Mexico, where our own auto workers are 
now forced to compete with auto workers in Mexico making 67 cents an 
hour. That is what Fast Track has brought us.
  We have seen what it has brought to our environment, where 
corporations are continuing to seek to escape, avoid and evade 
responsible environmental standards in this country in order to go to 
other countries and to make a profit, make a profit by avoiding 
responsible environmental behavior.

[[Page 24042]]

  We have seen what it has done to our food safety standards, where 
right now in this country under Fast Track legislation we can no longer 
keep out foods that do not meet our own food safety standards.
  But last of all and most importantly, I oppose Fast Track because I 
think it is the single greatest threat to our representative form of 
democracy. It takes the power that has been vested in this body as 
representatives of the voters and gives it to the United States Trade 
Representative, who then, through agreements again in secret, delegates 
the authority to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. I 
think every Member in this body knows the chances of their own 
constituents exercising any right to petition to the WTO 
representatives in Geneva, Switzerland.
  I think this is a bad policy for America. I think that we have a 
responsibility here to our constituents. I know they did not send me 
down here to give away the rights of the constituents in the Ninth 
Congressional District of Massachusetts, and I assure you that no 
Representative in this Congress has been so directed by their people.

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