[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           CAFTA WILL ENSLAVE THE CHILDREN OF CENTRAL AMERICA

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, CAFTA or NAFTA? Most of the 
American people are confused about this debate on the floor of the 
House, and I say to my colleagues who will engage in a very limited 
debate somewhere toward midnight that this may be one of the more 
challenging votes of this Congress. It is a vote that calls upon your 
conscience, and I will simply say these few words: Once we vote for 
CAFTA, we will reinforce the child labor standards and laws and lack of 
laws in Central America. You will be sending the 3-year-olds, the 4-
year-olds, the 5-year-olds into the hard labor of picking agricultural 
products with no supervision and no regulations whatsoever.
  My heart, my conscience refuses to allow me to vote for CAFTA, a free 
trade bill that will enslave the children of Central America. I will 
vote a resounding ``no,'' and I ask my corporate leaders in America to 
stand alongside of those of us who want the kind of trade bill that 
addresses the child slavery in Central America, forcing girls and boys 
to work without any, without any, hope and aspirations and the ability 
to survive.
  Vote ``no'' on CAFTA.

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