September 25th 2002
Fair traders working to stop further erosion of democracy in the United States had their worst fears confirmed, when the Trade Promotion Authority bill (called the Andean Trade Preference Act) went to vote on July 26. Local governments, including the National Association of Governors, had expressed their unprecedented opposition to local authority being pushed aside in favor of corporate rights through Fast Track. After tremendous opposition by citizen, labor, environmental and religious groups as well as the local governments, the House voted 215-213 to pass the bill. The last item on the list of a marathon session before the Congress broke for summer recess, the bill was pushed through in the dark of night at 3:30 am the following day.
Signed into law on August 6 by President Bush, the law grants him total control to negotiate international trade law, restricting the House and Congress input to only voting 'yeah' or 'nay' on the future of US trade policy. Our Constitution specifies that negotiations on trade are the domain of the congressional branch, not the executive branch. In passing Fast Track, the delicate system of checks and balances that is a cornerstone of our democracy was upset. Congress essentially relinquished their ability to represent the people who elected them.
Upon signing, Bush said that he immediately planned to move trade negotiations out of 'park' and would begin negotiations with Chile and Central America right away, as steps towards a broader regional bill, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The FTAA is the proposed trade agreement that will expand NAFTA to the entire western hemisphere (33 countries excluding Cuba). If the many failures of NAFTA are indicators of our future, we are in big trouble. Fast Track ensures that the FTAA negotiations will continue with little to no citizen input and with only cursory nods towards non-binding labor and environmental standards and human rights.
However, the news is not all doom and gloom. Hundreds of groups and thousands of citizens across the US came together to oppose Fast Track. President Bush pushed hard to have the bill go through Congress before the recess, because he realized Representatives would have faced tough constituent pressure in their home states during the August recess. This was a sign that the government is responding to our pressure -- although they responded by slamming the bill and cutting off democratic debate and citizen input.
These networks and individuals now see defeating the FTAA as the next challenge to halting the takeover of our democracy by unregulated corporate power. When it comes to preserving democracy in international trade in negotiations, it is clear that the United States is on is the WRONG TRACK. Official FTAA negotiations do not involve citizen input, yet provide ample opportunities for corporations to unduly influence the negotiations to entrench their 'right' to profit at the expense of the rights of people and the environment.
Find out how to join the thousands of people mobilizing to defeat the FTAA here
