-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! Dear Brigade, "In a statement, [Ron] Paul, a longtime foe of the WTO, said he submitted the resolution because the WTO "is an egregious attack upon our national sovereignty, and this is the reason why we must vigorously oppose it'' ..." GO PAT GO!!!!!!! Linda -------------------------------- Date sent: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 19:32:11 -0800 (PST) From: Kenneth L Lowndes ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: House Members Urge US to Quit WTO HOT! ------------------------- Friday March 3, 2000 House Members Urge US to Quit WTO By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A group of conservative House members promised Friday to introduce legislation demanding that the United States quit the World Trade Organization. The move will force the full House to take up a second contentious trade issue this year. The effort, being led by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, guarantees a vote within 90 days on withdrawing from the WTO, the Geneva-based organization that has become a lightning rod for opponents of globalization. Under the 1994 legislation that authorized U.S. membership in the newly created WTO, Congress required the administration to submit a progress report after five years of WTO membership about the costs and benefits to the U.S. economy. Upon receipt of that report, which the administration submitted Thursday, any member of Congress can file a joint resolution demanding that the United States withdraw its membership. To ensure that the issue cannot be bottled up in committee, the 1994 law required a vote within 90 days by the full House or Senate, depending on where the withdrawal measure was introduced. That means the Clinton administration will be forced to defend U.S. membership in the WTO at the same time it is seeking votes to grant China permanent normal trade relations with the United States as part of China's WTO membership bid. Republican leaders, who expected WTO opponents in the House to file a withdrawal resolution, have indicated a vote on the issue will occur before the House takes up the administration's China request. In a statement, Paul, a longtime foe of the WTO, said he submitted the resolution because the WTO ``is an egregious attack upon our national sovereignty, and this is the reason why we must vigorously oppose it.'' Other opponents of the WTO make similar claims. Organized labor, environmental organizations and consumer groups brought thousands of demonstrators to the streets of Seattle last December for protests against what the groups see as the WTO's unbalanced emphasis on breaking down trade barriers no matter what the cost to workers' rights and environmental protections. These groups have not indicated they will be backing the Paul effort, however, because of worries that it would detract from what they view as the real trade fight in Congress this year, the administration's request to end the annual reviews of China's trade status with the United States. ``Scheduling this vote before the China vote will be an effort to demonstrate some sort of support for free trade. But obviously, the big fight this year is going to be on China and not pulling out of the WTO,'' said Patrick Woodall, a spokesman for Public Citizen Global Trade Watch, a leading opponent of the WTO. The administration concluded in its report to Congress, released Friday in its full printed version, that WTO membership has been overwhelmingly beneficial to the United States. Benefits came, it said, both through tariff reductions being implemented as part of the last round of global trade talks and through the WTO's binding dispute-resolution procedures. While the United States has won a number of cases before the WTO, it lost its biggest case so far just last week when the WTO ruled that a billion annual tax break for American exporters violates global trade rules. Paul said the loss of the tax case underscored the arguments he and other opponents are making that the United States has handed over to an international tribunal its ability to make tax law. The administration's review of the impact of WTO membership on the U.S. economy was only part of a 310-page report the administration issues every year assessing recent trade developments and laying out its trade agenda for the coming year. WTO critics called the administration's assessment a whitewash that glossed over the 135-nation organization's major flaws. In addition to Paul, other House members who have signed on as sponsors of the withdrawal resolution are Reps. John Duncan Jr., R-Tenn.; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.; Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Jack Metcalf, R-Wash.; and Gene Taylor, D-Miss. -------------- end ------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T H E I N T E R N E T B R I G A D E Linda Muller - WebMaster Post Office Box 650266, Potomac Falls, Virginia 20165 Email: http://www.buchanan.org/form-contact.html Web: http://www.buchanan.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have You O F F I C I A L L Y E N L I S T E D Yet? http://www.buchanan.org/form-enlistment.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The One and Only B R I G A D E Email List! To Subscribe or Unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] With the Message: SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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