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December 3, 2001

Read Phyllis Schlafly's Column:   Fast Track Is Unconstitutional

On Thursday, December 6, the House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 3005, "Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2001," also known as "Fast Track," which transfers the trade negotiating powers from Congress to the President. Fast Track would rush executive-branch negotiated trade agreements through Congress with mandatory deadlines, severely limited debate, no amendments allowed, only the chance to vote aye or nay, and evades the two-thirds treaty requirement in the Senate. Uphold the Constitution  Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power "To lay and collect taxes" and "To regulate commerce with foreign nations." "Fast Track" will upset the Constitutional checks and balances by Congress surrendering its power to amend trade treaties. History: Trade Under Fast Track  Thanks to Congressional approval of "Fast Track" for President Clinton during the 1990s, America has been stuck with the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the free trade agreement with Mexico (NAFTA). NAFTA and GATT put U.S. trade under the control of new and powerful international bureaucracies. Hidden in the 22,000-page GATT was the 14-page charter putting us in the World Trade Organization, where we have one vote, the European Union 15 votes, and the Third World 80 votes. Fast Track advocates are mute about the failure of NAFTA and GATT to live up to their rosy predictions. The WTO ruled against the United States in the first case brought against us when Venezuela challenged our environmental laws about gasoline. Then, the WTO ruled against Eastman Kodak, costing thousands of layoffs. To most Americans, the most visible result of NAFTA is the current plan to flood American highways with Mexican trucks that haven't passed U.S. inspection for safety and insurance. ACTION ITEMS  "Fast Track" authority expired in 1995, and trade negotiations have progressed just fine without it. Congress should not give away the opportunity to amend and to have a full and fair debate on every trade deal. Ask your Representative to vote 'NO' on "Fast Track" (H.R. 3005) Target List: Akin, Bachus, Ballenger, Bentsen, Berkley, Berry, Bilirakis, Bishop, Bonilla, Boswell, Boucher, Boyd, Henry Brown, Bryant, Burr, Burton, Capito, Chambliss, Clyburn, Coble, Combest, Cubin, Crenshaw, Jim Davis, Susan Davis, Deal, Doolittle, Duncan, Edwards, Emerson, Eshoo, Farr, Ferguson, Fletcher, Foley, Gallegly, Gibbons, Gillmor, Gonzalez, Goode, Graham, Gene Green, Mark Green, Gutknecht, Harman, Hart, Alcee Hastings, Hayes, Hefley, Hill, Hilleary, Hinojosa, Hobson, Hoekstra, Horn, Hunter, Hyde, Inslee, Jenkins, Kelley, Keller, Mark Kennedy, Kilpatrick, Kingston, LaTourette, Frank Lucas, Ken Lucas, Matheson, McHugh, Carrie Meek, Gregory Meeks, Mica, Gary Miller, Jeff Miller, Moore, Jerry Moran, Myrick, Napolitano, Ney, Ortiz, Osbourne, Petri, Phelps, Pickering, Platts, Pomeroy, David Price, Radanovich, Regula, Rehberg, Reyes, Riley, Roemer, Hal Rogers, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Royce, Schaffer, Scott, Sensenbrenner, Shadegg, Sherwood, Shuster, Simmons, Simpson, Skeen, Adam Smith, Nick Smith, Synder, Stenholm, Sweeney, Tauscher, Mike Thompson, Thune, Turner, Tom Udall, Upton, Walsh, Wamp, Weiner, Curt Weldon, Whitfield, Wu, Bill Young CALL TODAY! CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD (202) 224-3121 E-mail addresses

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