Pete Stark: “I rise once again in opposition this time to H.R. 2739, the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation…”

“I rise once again in opposition this time to H.R. 2739, the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. It is not bad enough that we trash workers' rights in Chile. We might as well do two of them at once and trash any hope for workers' rights in Singapore. I am happy to note that organized labor in the United States opposes the Singapore, as well as the Chile, Free Trade Agreement. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers of American, Unite! the Needle Trades Union, and the Machinists Union have all informed us of their opposition to both the Singapore and Chile free trade agreements. If we are at all interested in protecting workers' rights around the globe, then we must oppose this piece of legislation. In Singapore in particular, a one-party dictatorship has consistently suppressed workers' rights just as they are being suppressed in Cuba, China, Liberia, Haiti, Pakistan, and many other areas of the world; and we are not doing anything about that.”