There's a lot to report on so let me first apologize for the length of this email.
Briefly, here are the action alerts:
First, contact Jim Matheson about CAFTA, second, contact Layton City Attorney's Office as well as Mayor in defense of Mike Norton's war memorial, and third, sign a petition asking for a full congressional investigation of the Downing Street Minutes.
Yesterday, the UDPC sent the following to Representative Matheson regarding CAFTA: June 20, 2005
Congressman Jim Matheson
240 East Morris Avenue, #235
South Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Dear Congressman Matheson:
The Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus (UDPC) is writing to urge you to oppose approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). While we believe in the concept of free trade in principle, free trade at the expense of protection for workers, human rights and the environment ultimately undermines the economic growth trade agreements such as CAFTA are intended to foster.
Our experience since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990's and other subsequent trade agreements with nations such as China provide us with a cautionary tale. America's trade deficit has continued to grow, reaching a record high of just over $195 billion during the first quarter of 2005. U.S. manufacturing and textile industries have continued to decline, and retail giants such as Wal-Mart have taken advantage of cheap overseas labor markets without regard to the quality of life American manufacturing jobs once provided to a large portion of the American middle class.
CAFTA is an interim step toward the final goal of a larger Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) covering the entire western hemisphere. As such, CAFTA provides the United States with the last opportunity before FTAA negotiations are completed to insist free trade agreements protect our interests at home and promote our values abroad.
The UDPC joins with labor, human rights, and environmental organizations in calling upon both this administration and Congress to make the following the central organizing principles upon which CAFTA and future trade agreements be negotiated:
Workers Rights: Every worker, regardless of the country where they are employed, deserves the right to organize, to work in a safe/healthy work environment, and to earn a living wage based upon the cost of living within their nation. CAFTA, like NAFTA before it, not only does not promote the interests of workers, but promotes the race to the bottom which costs Americans jobs and forces foreign workers into low paying jobs and perpetual poverty.
Human Rights: The dignity and worth of every person must be the primary focus of both our foreign and domestic policy. The establishment and preservation of representative democracy, equal rights for all citizens, and the rule of law should be requirement in any trade agreement of any trade agreement. CAFTA fails to take human rights into account, focusing primarily on the goal of geographic expansion of an existing free trade zone. While most nations included in CAFTA are at least emerging representative democracies, the recent history of many nations covered by this agreement, not to mention our own duty to be vigilant in preserving liberty here at home, makes the inclusion of human rights standards as a condition of the agreement essential.
The Environment: Too many multi-national corporations seek opportunities to escape the responsibilities as global citizens by moving to countries where environmental regulations are lacking or are laxly enforced. In taking advantage of weak environmental standards, these companies not only jeopardize the health of ecosystems and the world at large, but expose local populations to health risks. This amounts to a violation of their human rights as well as a crime against nature. While this administration has made clear it intends to ignore the growing threat of climate change and industrial poisons such as mercury, selenium and arsenic, Congress need not abide such disregard for the world which sustains us all. This and any future trade agreement should include a commitment by all signatories to enforce strict environmental standards.
The UDPC believes these values are universal. They represent not only our ideals as a nation, but the ideals in the heart of every common citizen and worker around the world. These values transcend political party, religion, race or nationality. In continuing to ignore these values within our trade agreements and other policies foreign and domestic, we only succeed in demonstrating the only value with more power to shape our common future is greed.
Thank you for taking the time to read our concerns regarding CAFTA and other similar agreements. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding our position on this issue. We look forward to reviewing your response, and sincerely hope you will vote NO on CAFTA when it comes up for a vote.
Sincerely,
Craig Axford & Laura Bonham
Co-Chairs, Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus
Cc: UDPC Membership
To contact Rep. Matheson:
http://www.house.gov/matheson/contact.html Contact Layton City Attorney's Office as well as Mayor in defense of Mike Norton's war memorial Mike Norton's memorial first came to our attention through a Davis County Democrats breakfast. Inspired to remember the fallen in Iraq by President Bush's refusal to allow any media or photographs of the growing number of flag draped coffins coming home from Iraq, Mr. Norton decided to build a memorial in his front yard featuring photographs of the fallen to serve as a reminder of the terrible cost of this misguided war.
Unfortunately, the Layton City Attorney's office has decided remembering the cost of war, particular one based on lies, is not something Layton City is willing to tolerate. It recently sent a letter requesting Mr. Norton scale back the size of his memorial and turn off the flood lights that illuminate it at night. We are asking our members and friends to contact the Layton City attorney's office to remind the City Attorney of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Mr. Norton has indicated he is prepared to fight for his rights in court, but he deserves all of our support.
Please contact :
(801)336-3590 City Attorney's Office (Kevin Ward is City Attorney)
kward@laytoncity.org (not a confirmed email address)
Layton City Mayor's Office: - Jerry Stevenson
JStevenson@laytoncity.org
Demand a full congressional investigation of the Downing Street Minutes Long after President Bush declared an end to "major hostilities," Americans continue to pay a terrible price for the Iraq war. Now, a British government memo ("the Downing Street Memo") suggests a sickening truth: that the Bush administration was determined to go to war all along -- even if it had to fix the facts to convince the American people.
We've got to act. We must make sure Congress gets the memo because Americans deserve to know the truth. Join me and demand that Congress hold hearings about the Downing Street Memo to determine whether the Bush administration misled us into war:
http://petition.democracyforamerica.com/page/petition/downing/lvstpa To view a flash video about the Downing Street Minutes:
http://democracyforamerica.com/memo_movie.php Thank you.
Clarity Sanderson, UDPC Internet Outreach
Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus
Office: 801 485-4076
clarity@udpc.org
http://www.udpc.org Democratic Action Through Individual Participation
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