Max Baucus: “Very briefly, this amendment may sound good on the surface, but for very compelling reasons it is not a good idea. It is…”

“Very briefly, this amendment may sound good on the surface, but for very compelling reasons it is not a good idea. It is a very bad idea. I will tell you why. It is true that under current law, one has the argument that foreign investors are at an advantage compared to domestic investors in seeking to protect their rights, say, in a fifth amendment takings question regarding, say, an environmental statute. The Methanex case dealing with MTBEs in California has not yet been resolved, but there is an argument that foreign investors in this case are in a more advantageous position than a U.S. investor with respect to the same kind of proceeding, and that is because of the way investor-state relationship rights are written under chapter 11 of NAFTA. There are many treaties which govern investor-state relations that are causing some question.”