John Kerry: “it is interesting, listening to the Senator from Idaho, who, as he said, came to this decision from a different place…”

“it is interesting, listening to the Senator from Idaho, who, as he said, came to this decision from a different place than the Senator from North Dakota, and listening to the Senator from North Dakota; both of them have raised issues they tried to get the administration to respond to. I am very sympathetic with the sense they have that the administration just didn't respond to them and really was unwilling to try to accommodate what I think are very reasonable concepts. In May of 2003 I sent a letter to Ambassador Zoellick, asking the administration to delay tabling CAFTA's labor chapter until Congress had an opportunity to consult. I wrote again in October 2003, raising similar concerns. All we got was a very sort of abrupt and short letter that basically never engaged in the kind of discussion that could have benefited all of us so we would not have the kind of divide we have in the Senate and in the country today. During the debate of TPA in 2002, I offered an amendment to allow communities to be able to preserve their health and safety laws which were being challenged under NAFTA. Even now, with a lawsuit pending against the State of California for attempting to protect their drinking water--imagine that. The State of California wants to protect its drinking water and the interests of its citizens. But nevertheless they included the very same provisions that have led to that kind of challenge in CAFTA.…”