Maxine Waters: “I rise to support House Joint Resolution 27 to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization. The WTO is…”

“I rise to support House Joint Resolution 27 to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization. The WTO is not about free trade or fair trade. It is about corporate power. WTO rules allow America's labor, environmental and public interest laws to be challenged by multinational corporations seeking profits and power. Other countries have also seen their domestic laws challenged in order to expand corporate power. The WTO sacrifices the rights of workers, the protection of the environment and the health and safety of working families. WTO rules support corporations to move their operations from one country to another in search of the cheapest labor and the least government regulation. If a country enacts a minimum wage law, a corporation that does not want to pay a decent wage can simply move its factory to another country. If workers in that country organize a labor union, the corporation can move the factory to a third country. Many corporations prefer to operate in countries such as the People's Republic of China, which outlaw independent labor organizations. The WTO has no restrictions on sweatshops, child labor, prison labor or slave labor. WTO rules promote investment opportunities for multinational corporations without regard to their impact on workers, the environment or the public interest. Countries' labor, health and environmental laws can be challenged if they have a side effect of restricting trade.…”