Seattle Area Congressperson Comes Out Against CAFTA
July 19, 2005
Seattle area Congressperson Jay Inslee recently announced his opposition to CAFTA, despite ties to CAFTA supporter Microsoft:
...I spent a significant amount of time reading the fine print of this trade agreement to determine whether it accomplishes two necessary and mutually reinforcing goals: enhancing Washington state trade opportunities while concurrently advancing the protections for labor rights and the environment, both at home in Washington state and in the CAFTA countries themselves. While this agreement makes great strides to improve intellectual property rights for software and other products, this to effectively embody the partnership between business, labor, and environmental interests necessary for America to lead the world with a progressive trade agenda.
On worker protections, CAFTA takes a step backward from existing labor enforcement mechanisms, namely the threat of trade sanctions. In addition, my other primary concern is that the investor protection provisions similar to those in NAFTA, which can undermine local environmental regulations, were not sufficiently corrected. These measures are achievable, but this administration chose not to take these concerns seriously, and is now struggling to pass CAFTA without bipartisan support.
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