Action:
Call your Representative, using the Capitol Switchboard at (202)
224-3121, which will connect you. Ask to speak to the trade staff
person. Tell him/her that you are a constituent and want to know
the Representative's position on CAFTA. If your Representative is
opposed to the agreement and will vote against it, thank him/her.
If the Representative is undecided, say that you oppose CAFTA based
on the talking points below (you can offer to send him/her these
talking points) and urge him/her to vote no. If the Representative
is for CAFTA, urge him/her to reconsider.
Script/talking points:
"Hello, my name is _______ and I live in _______. I'm calling
to ask Representative_______ to vote against the Central American
Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). I am deeply concerned about CAFTA
and believe that the agreement will have terrible consequences for
Central America, the Dominican Republic and our own country.
If passed CAFTA will threaten the livelihoods of millions of small
farmers in Central America and the Dominican Republic, while increasing
domination by agricultural monopolies and hurting U.S. family farmers.
It threatens to prevent access to affordable life saving medicines
in a region where half the population lives in poverty.
It will prohibit governments in the region from ensuring that foreign
investment serves national development goals, and has a provision
like NAFTA's Chapter 11 that would allow foreign corporations to
sue governments that pass strong labor, public health or environmental
laws. It does NOT include adequate enforcement for violations of
internationally recognized labor and environmental standards.
It includes rules that promote privatization and deregulation of
services including education, health care, postal service, construction,
transportation and water supply. Such policies have proved particularly
devastating for families living in poverty.
CAFTA will pave the way for more trade agreements such as the Andean
Free Trade Agreement and the Free Trade Area of the Americas which
would extend this flawed model to the whole Western Hemisphere.
After 10 years of NAFTA, we know firsthand the devastating effects
of this economic model. Expanding it in CAFTA ultimately threatens
workers, farmers, women, the environment, and democratic institutions
in the U.S. and the region. I strongly urge Representative_________
to stand up for trade justice by voting NO to CAFTA in Congress
and sending the message to the Administration that U.S. trade policies
must promote fair trade and sustainable development policies designed
to reduce poverty in the U.S. and the region.
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Background:
There is general agreement that the White House does not have the
votes to pass CAFTA in the House of Representatives. According to
Washington Trade Daily‚s ongoing informal poll of members‚
offices, reported the day before the Senate vote, 110 House members
say they will or are likely to vote for CAFTA. That number includes
104 Republicans and six Democrats. Opponents, meanwhile, are within
striking distance of bringing the trade pact down. Some 204 members
will or are likely to vote against CAFTA 32 Republicans, 171 Democrats
and one Independent. The number opponents need to stop the measure
is 218 votes.
To try to beat those numbers, the Bush administration is working
on getting members of Congress from sugar and textile states to
support CAFTA based on promises rather than on changes that many
members have been demanding. It is unclear how many votes they may
be able to get as a result. They are also trying to pick off Democrats
and have targeted Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in an attempt to
negotiate his support by somehow addressing his demand for "trade
capacity building" funds to deal with labor and small farmer
problems in Central America and the Dominican Republic. However,
despite the administration's best efforts, the American Sugar Alliance
on June 23 released a statement that said there was no sugar deal
on DR-CAFTA that addressed their demands. Also, the American Corn
Growers Association (ACGA) reaffirmed that organization's opposition
to ratification of CAFTA.
On June 30, legislation to implement the Dominican
Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) was passed
by a 54-45 vote in the United States Senate. Commentators noted
that this was the closest vote in memory on a free trade agreement.
NAFTA was passed in the Senate by a 61-38 vote in 1993 and the 2003
Chile agreement by a 65-32 vote. A mere change of five votes would
have meant victory for the anti-CAFTA forces. These are composed
by fair trade activists, sugar and textile interests and labor groups
in the U.S. as well as by representatives of small farmers in Central
America and the Dominican Republic along with people in those countries
who are concerned about access to medicines, environmental protection,
labor rights and national sovereignty.
Visit the web page of the Stop CAFTA Coalition at www.stopcafta.org.
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