[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      OPENING DOORS WITH CAFTA-DR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, as the House prepares to take up the 
Central American Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA-DR, 
this week, I urge my colleagues to render their full support for this 
measure.
  This is an agreement that is not solely about trade, but also about 
saving lives and furthering the spread of democracy in the world. 
Passing CAFTA-DR has many positive and far-reaching implications. It 
promotes U.S. national security objectives in our own backyard by 
opening markets and fostering economic development, which are the 
critical weapons in fighting the conditions that breed instability and 
terrorism. By supporting CAFTA-DR, we will be giving the people of the 
countries included under the agreement the hope for change and for 
progress.
  CAFTA-DR is not only vitally important to the future of the Central 
American nations and to the Dominican Republic, but to our own economic 
well-being and overall strategic considerations. By expanding exports, 
by lowering the trade deficit, CAFTA-DR creates jobs. Today nearly 80 
percent of the products from Central America and the Dominican Republic 
and 99 percent of the agricultural products already enter the United 
States duty free. America's markets are already open. But Americans who 
wish to sell to Central America and the DR, on the other hand, face 
high tariffs. CAFTA-DR eliminates those foreign taxes, opening the 
region's markets to goods, services and farm products from the United 
States.
  U.S. investors have invested billions of dollars overseas, 
stimulating trade. U.S. investors must be treated fairly in foreign 
markets like Central America if the system is to work fairly. The 
passage of CAFTA-DR in my home State of Florida would have far-reaching 
positive implications. Collectively the countries of CAFTA-DR are 
Florida's largest export destinations. Even individually CAFTA-DR 
markets are important trading partners for my home State of Florida. 
CAFTA-DR would provide enhanced market access to the Dominican Republic 
and to Central America as it will boost opportunities for Florida 
exporters throughout the region, providing new market access for the 
State's products.
  CAFTA-DR will further obligate our trading partners to bring their 
laws and their regulations up to U.S. standards in areas such as the 
regulation of services, investments, intellectual property, 
telecommunications, procurement, and e-commerce. Establishing a level 
playing field helps U.S. businesses to compete. Concurrently CAFTA-DR 
will help strengthen the rule of law and promote transparency against 
all sectors. In doing so, it would help deny criminal elements and 
other unsavory characters of the corrupt structures that they could 
manipulate for anything from money laundering to terrorist financing.
  As such, CAFTA-DR also serves to promote democratic governments, thus 
advancing stability and consolidating freely elected governments that 
are our allies in the war on drugs and the international war on terror.
  By strengthening our allies, our neighboring countries, we are 
helping to stabilize and strengthen our own Nation. In passing CAFTA-
DR, we are helping to ensure that the countries it includes will have 
the opportunity to fight threats to their democratic institutions that 
feed off discontent, poverty, and disenfranchisement.
  On the other hand, failure to pass CAFTA-DR in Congress will only 
serve to cripple our efforts in freezing out narcoterrorist gangs and 
others who threaten our hemispheric stability.
  Finally, CAFTA-DR would also allow Central America to thrive by 
exporting goods through trade rather than exporting people through 
illegal immigration. Opportunities would also increase access to new 
technologies and educational opportunities that are going to afford 
small and medium businesses the ability to expand and diversify. It 
would open the door to more private investment, to a qualitative and 
quantitative improvement in the job market, and higher economic growth, 
government revenue and increased social spending.
  In summary, Mr. Speaker, adoption of CAFTA-DR will not only advance 
our own economic objectives, further our efforts to combat the war on 
terror and narcotrafficking, but also will strengthen our mission of 
strengthening and spreading democracy.
  I look forward to the passage of CAFTA-DR. A vote for CAFTA-DR is a 
vote for our U.S. national security.

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