Frank Lautenberg: “this Free Trade Agreement should have been easy for me to support. It is an agreement with a moderate Arab nation, an…”

“this Free Trade Agreement should have been easy for me to support. It is an agreement with a moderate Arab nation, an FTA that will integrate Morocco's economy with that of America. This FTA will aid Morocco's economy, strengthen our ties with the Kingdom, and help to bolster the contention that market economics can lead to a peaceful and prosperous moderate Islam. What troubles me is the Bush administration's ongoing inattention to the labor and environmental protections in trade agreements, which is inexcusable. This administration has refused to live up to the gold standard on labor and environmental protections, a standard set by the Clinton administration when it negotiated the United States-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. Instead, President Bush and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick have backtracked, endorsing less stringent protections in agreements with Chile and Singapore. The administration ignored the disapproval of many in Congress of those provisions. Stunningly, the administration did not include Jordan-style provisions in the Morocco agreement, even though Moroccan officials announced they would be willing to accept them. In short, President Bush settled for weaker protections than he could have gotten, and he did it for what would seem to be no reason other than to antagonize labor groups, environmental groups and some in Congress. I find that deplorable.”