Bill Pascrell: “Trade agreements, as I learned about them through school and reading on my own, used to be about tariff levels and…”

“Trade agreements, as I learned about them through school and reading on my own, used to be about tariff levels and quotas. That was the basis of trade agreements. But the modern trade agreement is about much more than just importing and exporting goods. I agree that foreign policy and trade go together. This is very critical. These agreements, and specifically the one we are talking about now, include entire chapters on foreign investor rights. If I may, I want to talk about that just for a few moments, the ownership in domestic regulation of services and even how tax dollars can be spent on procurement, buying things. We have had debates on the floor of the House in the last 2 months which have centered upon the sovereignty, the independence of our country in the world. Just last month, we saw a comprehensive United Nations reform measure pass this House. In that debate, we heard about how the U.N., the International Criminal Court, and other global bodies can undermine policies set by this Congress and this Federal Government. How any of those same critics can support CAFTA is beyond me. These agreements include, as I said, whole chapters on foreign investor rights. Over the past 10 years, NAFTA, which is the model for this piece of legislation, has been a disaster for American sovereignty and has undermined the intent of our Constitution.…”