Marcy Kaptur: “soon President Bush's administration will force upon this Congress consideration of free trade agreements with Peru and…”

“soon President Bush's administration will force upon this Congress consideration of free trade agreements with Peru and Panama under the fast-track process. That means no amendments allowed here in the Congress. The bills they will bring before us are modeled on the flawed NAFTA model that have yielded growing trade deficits every year the Bush administration has been in office. We have seen how NAFTA sucked good jobs away from Americans, how it ravaged the Mexican countryside and triggered a flow of illegal immigrants, drugs and violence across our southern border. Our staggering trade deficit with Mexico continues to grow. This year, we already have a $21.6 billion deficit with Mexico, and it will continue to swell as communities across the continent face job washout. If we do not construct a new trade model that takes people into consideration and advocates free trade among free people, then it does not matter how many environmental provisions we may add to trade agreements or how unique the administration claims its labor provisions are. We are simply extending NAFTA to the rain forest and to more sweat shops because there will be no reliable enforcement. We have seen the NAFTA model fail in Mexico. We have seen it fail in CAFTA countries. Why should we assume it will be any less disastrous in Peru or Panama? We cannot fall for empty promises again.…”