NICANET HOTLINE -- URGENT ACTION ALERT Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Jun 9, 1999 by nicanet@igc.org On Monday, June 7, the Nicaragua Network Hotline posted an alert calling for support for Rep. Cynthia McKinney's debt cancellation bill. The deadline for Representatives to sign on as original co-sponsors has been extended to the evening of Tuesday, June 15. A more urgent legislative situation has suddenly developed, so we are issuing the following new alert. URGENT! BLOCK TWO VERY BAD TRADE BILLS Action Needed before Thursday, June 9 If your Representative is listed below, please call her or him to oppose disastrous trade legislation that their committee will be debating on Thursday. We have just received the surprising news that the House Ways & Means Committee will be "marking up" two key pieces of trade legislation this Thursday, June 10: the Africa Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). "Mark-up" is the Committee process of going over all the details of a bill before submitting it to the full House for a vote. The CBI bill has huge implications for Nicaragua and its neighbors: it would facilitate even more sweatshops and corporate profiteering by U.S. companies in Central America. The kind of investment facilitated by trade bills like CBI destroys local businesses (resulting in more unemployment) and undermines the rights of those who do find employment in the sweatshops that quickly follow the passage of such legislation. The mobility of corporations under such trade bills puts pressure on local governments to de-regulate or not put any new regulations on manufacturing facilities - and puts additional downward pressure on wages, since new investment is drawn by the lure of low wages. The other bill, AGOA, is perhaps the most outrageous and most obviously colonialist trade bill ever to make its way to the halls of the U.S. Congress. As a condition for trading with the U.S., African countries would have to undergo the kinds of structural adjustment programs mandated by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This bill conditions trade with the U.S. on African countries' willingness to re-allocate government resources away from basic human services such as health and education and to write off taxes for foreign corporations. Both of these bills should be opposed by all supporters of labor rights and human rights. Both bills had seemed to recede from view over the last couple of months - thanks to the support that progressives lined up for the HOPE for Africa Act (an alternative to AGOA that would requires adherence to internationally recognized labor standards, cancel sub-Saharan Africa's debts to the U.S. and work toward cancelling their debts owed to international institutions. The support HOPE attracted seemed to persuade a number of Congresspeople that the prospects for sneaking through another free-trade, neo-liberal bill were not good. But by scheduling this hearing with just two days' notice, it appears that sneaking it through might be the game plan. Please help us convince the bills' promoters that it's a *losing* game. What follows is the list of members of the House Ways & Means Committee. If your Representative (or one with whom you have a plausible connection) appears on it, please call and deliver a simple message: Oppose "free trade" that leads to more oppressed workers. Vote no on AGOA and CBI! Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Members of the House Ways & Means Committee: Arizona: Hayworth California: W. Thomas; Stark; Matsui; Herger; Becerra Colorado: McInnis Connecticut: Johnson Florida: Shaw; Thurman; Foley Georgia: Collins; J. Lewis Illinois: Crane (the lead sponsor of both bills); Weller Iowa: Nussle Kentucky: R. Lewis Louisiana: McCrery; Jefferson Maryland: Cardin Massachusetts: Neal Michigan: Camp; S. Levin Minnesota: Ramstad Missouri: Hulshof New York: Rangel (lead Democrat sponsor of both bills); Houghton; McNulty Ohio: Portman Oklahoma: Watkins Pennsylvania: Coyne; English Tennessee: Tanner Texas: Archer (Chair); S. Johnson; Doggett Washington: McDermott; Dunn Wisconsin: Kleczka ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-06.11.99-05:18:53-17868