Barbara Mikulski: “I rise to oppose the U.S.-Dominican Republic, Central American-Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA. I support free trade when it…”

“I rise to oppose the U.S.-Dominican Republic, Central American-Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA. I support free trade when it is fair trade. Yet this agreement is not fair for workers in America or in Central America. The truth is, this agreement will not dramatically change the trade relationship between the United States and our neighbors in Central America. Thanks to existing agreements, like the Caribbean Basin Initiative, there are relatively few trade restrictions today between the U.S. and the nations of CAFTA. The small increases in trade of textiles and agriculture products that will result under CAFTA represent a very modest increase in U.S. revenue. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, CAFTA will generate a net increase in U.S. revenues of just 0.01 percent per year. So this agreement is not going to do much to help the American economy. But it contains provisions on labor, the environment and sugar that could harm America's working men and women and their families. I think we have widespread agreement that workers in the CAFTA countries face very difficult conditions. In most countries, workers have a very hard time trying to unionize and bargain collectively. Intimidation of union organizers is not unusual. It often goes unpunished. There is even a significant amount of child labor in some sectors in these countries.…”