Last night, I called the White House to inform them that after studying their fast track proposal, I could not support the legislation before us. I have supported all of the free trade initiatives over the past ten years and was inclined to vote yes on this one until I took a closer look. I support fast track authority for the President, but cannot support this fast track legislation.
San Francisco, which I represent, is a city which was built on trade and continues to thrive on it. We appreciate the value of free trade. But we also value protecting the environment. With us, environmental protection is not only an issue, but it is also an ethic. In opposing this legislation, I am joining over twenty Members of the California House delegation and our two Senators.
As the author of legislation signed by President Bush (reluctantly, I might add) which requires that an Environmental Impact Assessment be made and that the assessment be made publicly available before the U.S. can vote in support of multilateral development bank projects, I have a long history on international environmental issues. I have carefully reviewed the President's Statement of Executive Initiatives. They are interesting but not compelling.
And, as a lifetime advocate for workers' rights worldwide, I believe that the only way we can avoid the "race to the bottom" of the wage scale is to make those issues part of the fast track.
To the extent that the environment and labor are mentioned in the pending legislation, it is in a restrictive way. The legislation ignores, where it does not forbid, strengthening environmental or labor standards. We must restore some balance in the trade negotiations.
Therefore, because the deck is so heavily weighted in favor of commerce, and because I believe we can do better with this important legislation, I am asking the President to withdraw his request, go back to the drawing board, and find some common ground.
In his initiatives, the President refers to the renewal of "traditional trade negotiating authority." I believe that by clinging to the traditional views, we are thinking in old ways. Let's take the best of the past and make the newer fresher ideas a part of fast track.
I cannot support a fast track which does not include the environment as a core issue. Those who relegate the environment to secondary status are on the wrong side of the future.
