FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2007

CONTACT: Stephanie Niedringhaus, 202-347-9797 x224, sniedringhaus@networklobby.org

CATHOLICS CALL FOR NEW TRADE AGENDA

Washington , DC : NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby welcomes the expiration of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) or “Fast Track” authority on June 30, 2007. TPA gave the President the right to enter into trade agreements with other nations without the provision-by-provision scrutiny of Congress, thus curtailing Congressional constitutional power over commerce. Congress was limited to a simple up-or-down vote on trade agreements. Thus, the far-reaching effects of trade agreements for the United States were never adequately probed. Absent scrutiny, trade failed as an instrument of development both for the U.S., but also for its trading partners. This is especially true for those partners who have developing economies.

Therefore, in concert with the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment, a coalition of faith-based groups, NETWORK opposes the current U.S. trade agenda. We take this position because trade agreements since NAFTA have caused job loss, rural dislocations and economic insecurity, both domestically and abroad. The U.S. has experienced the relocation of well-paying jobs, resulting in the erosion of America’s middle class. U.S. partner countries, especially developing nations, also find themselves unable to compete against the international sale of subsidized U.S. crops that glut the global markets. Many farmers have had to leave their land because they were no longer able to make a living farming. This has fueled migration and immigration creating a nexus among trade, investment and immigration. As one Mexican farmer proclaims, “Send us another bale of corn and we will send you an immigrant.”

NETWORK calls for the total revision of U.S. trade policy. Our nation must create a policy that benefits both the United States and the economies of our trading partners. Only by creating mutual benefits in the market place will we ever be able to change the course of exploitation and migration. NETWORK hails the end of Trade Promotion Authority as the first step in the process and calls on the Administration and Congress to begin again to create trade policy based on the global common good.

XXX

NETWORK—a Catholic leader in the global movement for justice and peace—educates, organizes and lobbies for economic and social transformation. Founded in 1971 by 47 Catholic sisters, NETWORK is supported by thousands of groups and individuals committed to working for social and economic justice. For more information, see www.networklobby.org.