Mike Levin: “I want the Record to be clear: I was in meetings with the Jordanian Government from the outset, at least in discussions…”

“I want the Record to be clear: I was in meetings with the Jordanian Government from the outset, at least in discussions with this body, and the King said they were willing to negotiate on labor and environmental standards. Do not talk about shoving this down somebody's throat. It is not true. Secondly, imposition of our standards? Nonsense. When it comes to core labor standards, these are ILO standards that most nations have already agreed to. Child labor? Forced labor? The ability of workers to associate and organize? That is imposing our standards? These are international standards. Are we imposing our standards when we insist on intellectual property or on subsidies in agriculture? The gentleman uses a different standard when it comes to one or another. Environmental standards. The President withdrew from Kyoto because developing nations were not in the Kyoto Accord, and now someone comes to this floor and says because we want countries to enforce the environmental standards, in this case, their own, it is a domestic agenda or it is a political agenda. It is not. This relates to the terms in competition of countries, and there are some basic standards that need to be applied and to be implemented.”