[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                DR-CAFTA

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating all of my 
colleagues who have stood up this morning in strong support of the 
Central American Free Trade Agreement. We have seen a very long and 
growing list of individuals here in the House, Democrats and 
Republicans, and organizations as well, U.S. businesses, large and 
small, conservatives and liberals, academia, foreign policy experts and 
prominent Central Americans.
  But sometimes it is more telling to look at the opponents of a 
particular measure. One of the fiercest opponents of DR-CAFTA is Daniel 
Ortega, the former Nicaraguan Communist dictator responsible for years 
of violence and oppression. Today he is trying, as he has been for 
years, to stage a comeback. He is banking a great deal on the effort to 
defeat DR-CAFTA. Daniel Ortega knows full well that the economic 
opportunities that DR-CAFTA will bring would improve the quality of 
life for Nicaraguans, fight corruption through greater transparency, 
and solidify Nicaragua's commitment to economic and political freedom. 
For a dictator whose support stems from civil unrest and ability to 
manipulate Nicaragua's judicial and legislative systems, implementation 
of DR-CAFTA would be extremely bad news. I urge my colleagues to oppose 
the Ortega agenda and support DR-CAFTA.

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