DORGAN, SIX OTHER SENATORS TELL PRESIDENT THEY’LL OPPOSE FAST TRACK TRADE AUTHORITY
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and six fellow Senators told President Bush in a letter Wednesday they’ll work to defeat his call for renewal of fast track trade negotiating authority.
The Senators say they “support trade and plenty of it” but “are strongly opposed to fast track.”
In addition to Dorgan, Senators signing the letter include Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
The Administration’s fast track trade negotiating authority expires on June 30. With that authority, the executive branch is free to negotiate trade treaties with foreign countries and submit those agreements for approval to the Congress, which must vote “yes” or “no” with no possibility for amendments.
“Over the last twenty years, fast track trade authority has been used to push through Congress a series of trade agreements lacking strong, enforceable mechanisms to protect our labor and environmental standards, as well as our economic and national security interests,” the Senators wrote in their letter to Bush. “As a consequence, we have seen explosive growth of the trade deficit – which now exceeds $800 billion a year – as well as millions of American jobs lost to unfair global competition.
“In the six years that the current Administration has had fast track authority, it has shown a particular unwillingness to address these problems, and has instead focused on negotiating a string of new, flawed agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),” they added.
“It’s time for a new trade policy that demands fair and reciprocal trade, and that stands up for our country, our workers, and our national security interests,” the Senators wrote.
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