http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=4604

Congress Hafta Say No To CAFTA
U.S.
Author: Jeff Crouere | 7/27/2005

Now, we have another President pushing another free trade agreement touting supposed benefits for the United States. Back in the early 90’s, President Clinton pushed hard to receive congressional approval for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Now, President Bush is doing the same sales job on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). However, just like NAFTA, CAFTA is a flawed agreement that should be rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

Any trade agreement will Central American countries will be one sided to benefit our trading partners. These nations do not have the same environmental or worksite standards as the United States. In addition, most workers in these nations do not the same rights, benefits or union representation as United States workers. The potential for Central American workers to be exploited to elicit benefits from this agreement is a real possibility.

In contrast, U.S. workers with labor, health, safety and environmental standards much stricter than their Central American counterparts, will not be able to fairly compete. It will only lead to job losses in this country and worse conditions for U.S. workers. In the view of David Obey (D-Wisconsin), U.S. workers will suffer “as corporations’ race for the cheapest labor costs in the region.�

We only have to look at NAFTA to see the job losses that will occur with this agreement. NAFTA was touted as a major benefit to the U.S. economy. However, according to the U.S. Labor Department, NAFTA led to the loss of 507, 384 jobs in this country. In addition, the U.S. trade deficits with our NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico have only increased. The same thing will happen with CAFTAâ€â€