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S.R. 1
This document includes Senate 3rd Reading Floor Amendments incorporated into the bill on Mon, Feb 7, 2005 at 12:18 PM by rday. --> 1
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Ron Allen 8 D. Chris Buttars 9 Allen M. Christensen 10 Gene Davis 11 Mike Dmitrich 12 Dan R. Eastman |
Beverly Ann Evans Fred J. Fife Karen Hale Thomas V. Hatch Parley G. Hellewell |
John W. Hickman Paula F. Julander Peter C. Knudson Mark B. Madsen Ed Mayne |
14 LONG TITLE
15 General Description:
16 This resolution of the Senate urges the United States Congress to oppose entering into a
17 Free Trade Area of the Americas.
18 Highlighted Provisions:
19 This resolution:
20 . urges the United States Congress to oppose any agreement for the United States to
21 enter into a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); and
22 . urges that the United States not enter into the FTAA until the nation has had more
23 experience and greater understanding of the North American Free Trade Agreement
24 and the World Trade Organization.
25 Special Clauses:
26 None
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28 Be it resolved by the Senate of the state of Utah:
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30 for free trade, which is a hallmark of our capitalistic society;
31 WHEREAS, free trade only thrives where there is a level playing field of government
32 regulations between trading partners;
33 WHEREAS, the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was supposed
34 to bring additional prosperity to the United States and level the playing field with Canada and
35 Mexico, thus perpetuating free trade between our nations;
36 WHEREAS, notwithstanding the good intentions of NAFTA, our nation has suffered
37 the loss of almost 900,000 jobs due to NAFTA, many of them coming in the manufacturing
38 sector;
39 WHEREAS, manufacturing jobs in the United States have plunged from 19.3 million in
40 1980 to only about 14.6 million today, in large part because of these types of trade issues;
41 WHEREAS, the United States has gone from a trade surplus with Mexico prior to
42 NAFTA to a substantial trade deficit;
43 WHEREAS, the United States is a current member of the World Trade Organization
44 (WTO), which has been called "The United Nations of World Trade";
45 WHEREAS, the United States consistently bows to the wishes of the WTO, only
46 proving the words of Texas Congressman Ron Paul to be prophetic: "The most important
47 reason why we should get out [of the WTO] is to maintain our nation's sovereignty. We should
48 never deliver to any international governing body the authority to dictate what our laws should
49 be. And this is precisely the kind of power that has been given to the WTO";
50 WHEREAS, both the WTO and NAFTA, through the use of trade tribunals, now claim
51 the sovereign authority to overrule decisions of American courts and make awards to foreign
52 businesses for violations of trade agreements;
53 WHEREAS, Abner Mikva, a former chief judge on the federal appellate bench and a
54 former congressman, has stated: "If Congress had known there was anything like this in
55 NAFTA, they never would have voted for it";
56 WHEREAS, the United States is considering entering into a new 34-member Free
57 Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in 2005; and
58 WHEREAS, based upon the experience that the United States has had with NAFTA
59 and the WTO, United States membership in the planned FTAA would increase manufacturing
Senate 3rd Reading Amendments 2-7-2005 rd/jlw
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flight in the state of Utah and throughout the United States:60
61 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the state of Utah
62 respectfully but firmly urges all members of the United States Congress to vote no on any
63 agreement for the United States to enter into a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) S. at this
63a time .S .
64 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the state of Utah urges the United
65 States Congress to not enter into the FTAA until the United States has had more experience
66 and greater understanding of the impacts of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization
67 (WTO).
68 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Majority
69 Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
70 the members of Utah's congressional delegation, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and
71 the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Legislative Review Note
as of 1-17-05 10:53 AM
Based on a limited legal review, this legislation has not been determined to have a high
probability of being held unconstitutional.