Make sure CAFTA trade bill is defeated in House vote

Call your U.S. representative today! The full House is expected to vote this week on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). We are asking people to mobilize once again on this important human rights issue. We can win this battle.

Opponents estimate that as many as 190 Democrats and 40 Republicans in the House are opposed to CAFTA, more than the 218 needed to defeat the pact.

Let’s make sure the bill comes up short!

Take action now -- last chance to stop CAFTA

Call your representative today! This is the last chance for us to stop CAFTA! Call the Capitol switchboard toll free at 866.340.9281 or 202.224.3121, or visit our online Legislative Action Center for your representative's contact information or to send an immediate written message by e-mail.

When you call

Ask to speak to the legislative assistant for trade issues, the chief of staff, or the legislative director.

Say that you are a constituent and a member of UUSC, and you want to know your representative’s position on CAFTA. Give your address, and ask for a response.

If the representative is opposed to the agreement and will vote against it, thank him or her.

If the representative is undecided, say that you oppose CAFTA based on the talking points below (you can offer to e-mail these talking points) and urge a NO vote.

Talking points

• After 10 years’ experience with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we know firsthand the devastating effects of such pacts. Expanding them in CAFTA threatens workers, farmers, women, the environment, and democratic institutions in the United States and Central America.

• CAFTA does not include adequate enforcement for violations of internationally recognized labor and environmental standards.

• CAFTA has a provision—as does NAFTA—that would allow foreign corporations to sue governments that pass strong labor, public health, or environmental laws.

• CAFTA includes rules that promote privatization and deregulation of services including education, health care, construction, transportation, and water supply. Such policies have proved particularly devastating for families living in poverty.

• If passed, CAFTA will threaten the livelihoods of millions of small farmers in Central America, while increasing domination by agricultural monopolies and hurting U.S. family farmers.

• CAFTA will pave the way for more trade agreements that extend this flawed model to the whole Western Hemisphere.

Background

As expected, on June 30 the Senate approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with a 54-45 vote. This was very close for a Senate trade vote, with 12 Republicans voting no. The bill is currently 30 to 40 votes short of passage in the House of Representatives.

CAFTA would create a trade and investment bloc that includes Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

On May 28, 2004, President Bush signed CAFTA without congressional approval. A year has passed, and Congress still hasn’t made a final resolution of the issue. The House and Senate typically approve or reject trade agreements within 60 days of the president’s signature, but the Bush administration is stalling until it has enough support.

The trade agreement would be the largest that Congress has considered in a decade. Economic justice for millions of families in the United States and internationally is at stake in this debate.

Bush administration officials, in a last desperate attempt to gain support for CAFTA, have tried linking CAFTA to increased democratic stability in the region and the fight against terrorism. But CAFTA has already destabilized the region, as thousands of farmers, workers, students, women, indigenous communities, and religious groups have taken to the streets in protest of CAFTA, often meeting violent repression from local law enforcement. Lost livelihoods in rural communities, reduced access to life-saving medicines, and an erosion of labor and environmental protections will outweigh CAFTA’s potential benefits.

Additionally, the trade agreement will maintain, if not worsen, the debt crisis facing developing country members. CAFTA places profits over people, corporate interests over workers’ rights, and trade laws over local and national democracies. It does not bring stability or development to the region!

UUSC thanks the American Friends Service Committee and the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition, which provided much of the information for this action alert.

Posted July 26, 2005