Political Quotes

“here we have the ``fast'' Fast Track being rammed through Congress, with all amendments and alternatives blocked and 1 hour for 435 Members to debate this bill. When the House Republican leadership acts in such a high-handed manner before the bill is even passed it can hardly be expected to cooperate and collaborate after Fast-Track authority is granted. As a strong advocate for more international commerce, I have supported trade agreements with China, the Caribbean Basin, Africa, Jordan and most recently, the Andean region. The real issue today is not whether to expand trade, but how. In the Ways and Means Committee I sought unsuccessfully to obtain one simple guarantee: that foreign investors would not be given more rights than American citizens. Foreign investors should not be granted the right to eviscerate our environmental, health, safety and consumer laws, in secret investor tribunals beyond the review of the press, public, and watchdog groups. I cannot support unlimited authority to negotiate international agreement impacting the environment for an Administration whose environmental record has ranged from indifference to outright hostility. That is why the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, the League of Conservation voters and every major environmental group in this country is opposing this legislation. It relegates the role of Congress to little more than preparing a Christmas wish list, hoping that an Executive Santa Claus will deliver.”