http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/richardson-obstacle-renegotiating-naftaLots of interesting nuggets in this post, but here are the Kerry related ones:
US Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) has only relinquished his dibs on chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the next two years (he faces reelection in 2010 and doesn't want to give up his powerful Banking chairmanship seat before then), but Dodd's seniority could entitle him to push US Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) out come 2011.
Speaking of Kerry, his role in the 2005 debate over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) might indicate that he'll take a leading role in re-making NAFTA over the next Congressional session. Kerry pushed an amendment three years ago to protect US and Central American workers in the trade deal, but was outvoted by the then-Republican majority. Kerry had supported the passage of NAFTA in 1993, but the destructive results of the trade deal have turned him into one of the Senate's leading critics of "free trade" deals without worker and environmental protections.
Here is is his amendment:
http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/headlines/Kerry-CAFTA-amendment.pdfObviously, we don't know what the future will hold, but it goes without saying that Dodd is not as good as Kerry on matters of foreign policy. Alas, the seniority system is what it is. I really hope Dodd can be satisfied with staying on Banking or perhaps there is another committee he can chair. That'll suck big time if Kerry is forced to relinquish his chairmanship. Two years is not a long enough tenure to get what needs to be done.