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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> David
Edeli [mailto:dedeli@citizen.org] <BR><B>Importance:</B> High</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV>Friends,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Despite news reports earlier this week to the contrary, we've just
received word that <STRONG>the Senate vote on the Peru NAFTA expansion will in
fact be THIS COMING Tuesday Dec 4th!</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>The debate will begin Monday, December 3rd, and the final vote will be
Tuesday morning.</DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>If you can engage your Senators this weekend or on Monday, please
do so! </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As with the house vote, there is a lot of misinformation going around
regarding whether labor, environmental, small farm, faith and other groups
actually support the deal (false on all counts!). So it is critical that
we all call our Senators immediately -- <EM>and also make sure that they have
in hand the copies of our organizations letters and position
papers.</EM></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>If you do not have the # for your Senators on hand, you can call
the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be
connected.</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I've pasted below some of the key talking points. Copies of key
documents can be found at <A
href="http://www.citizenstrade.org/peru.php">http://www.citizenstrade.org/peru.php</A> and
at <A
href="http://www.citizen.org/trade/afta/">http://www.citizen.org/trade/afta/</A>.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>If you have any questions about priority targets in your state or region,
please let me know.</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR>Thanks for taking action!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best,</DIV>
<DIV><BR>David</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>David Edeli<BR>Field Director<BR>Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
<BR>215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Washington DC, 20003 USA <BR><A
href="mailto:dedeli@citizen.org">dedeli@citizen.org</A> & <A
href="http://www.tradewatch.org/">www.tradewatch.org</A> <BR>Ph: +
202-454-5111, Fax: + 202-547 7392 <BR>Cell: +202-246-4943</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>++ Check out our new blog at <A
href="http://www.eyesontrade.org/">www.EyesOnTrade.Org</A>! ++</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----------------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><U>Flawed Policy of the Peru FTA:</U></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>We can’t afford any more NAFTA.</STRONG> With the highest U.S.
trade deficit ever, and more than 3 million high-paying manufacturing jobs
lost during the NAFTA era, we can't afford any more NAFTA-like trade deals. If
Congress allows the Peru or Panama FTAs, big corporations will use these deals
to ship more U.S. jobs away and push down the wages of jobs staying here. More
family farmers and small businesses will go bankrupt.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The labor rights fixes in the Peru FTA aren’t strong
enough.</STRONG> Big Business interests celebrated the “deal” to pass the Peru
FTA while no labor union, consumer, environmental or small business group
supports it. Tom Donahue, President of the Chamber noted “we are encouraged by
assurances that the labor provisions cannot be read to require compliance with
ILO Conventions.” Peru’s two major labor federations sent a letter on August
20th to the US Congress saying that the labor fixes were not sufficient and
urging a “No” vote on the deal. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The Peru FTA bans anti-offshoring and Buy America
policy.</STRONG> How could Democrats fighting to expand and preserve such
important policies support a trade agreement that explicitly bans them? Jobs
created with government money are some of the only U.S. jobs Congress has
direct authority to safeguard for U.S. workers in the global economy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The Peru FTAs threatens federal and state prevailing wage
guarantees.</STRONG> Absolutely ignored is labor’s key demand to remedy the
FTAs’ strict limits on the qualifications – such as requiring companies to
agree to pay prevailing wages as a condition for qualifying to bid –
governments can set for government contracts.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The Peru trade deal gives corporations too much power over Social
Security.</STRONG> The deal could allow Citibank and other corporations to sue
if Peru tried to fix its failed social security privatization. That's unfair
to the elderly and the poor in Peru. It's hypocritical for the U.S. to include
a provision like this in a trade deal -- when the American public rejected
privatization here at home. And, its also a terrible precedent. No "free trade
agreement" should ever contain provisions that impact social security
policy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The Peru trade deal endangers the lungs of the planet.
</STRONG>The upper Amazon basin in Peru is among the most bio-diverse areas on
earth - and also one of the most at risk. Pollution and deforestation from oil
production and mining is huge problem. The investment rules in the Peru FTA
could allow foreign investors to insist that they are allowed to pillage the
area for timber, mineral and energy resources, and would chill direly needed
efforts to protect the Amazon basin.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The Peru trade deal will increase drug trafficking and
instability.</STRONG> The NAFTA-style agreements will undermine the
livelihoods of small farmers throughout the Andean region and force them into
last-resort cultivation of coca for cocaine production, leading to an increase
in drug trafficking, terrorism and violence.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>The Peru trade agreement will tie Congress' hands when it comes
to food safety.</STRONG> NAFTA-style trade agreements contain provisions that
would allow food exporting companies to challenge U.S. state and federal
actions to increase inspections on imported food. In the middle of a imported
food safety crisis, this is the last thing we would want to do!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><U>Flawed Politics of the Peru FTA:</U></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>What are Congress' Priorities Anyhow? </STRONG>The "Deal" Puts
NAFTA Expansion Ahead of Any Pro-Working Family Legislation. President Bush
has vetoed legislation to provide health care for poor children, promised to
veto the Employee Free Choice Act, which would support workers' rights to
organize unions. By agreeing to more-of-the-same NAFTA expansion before
assuring any increase in protections for the American middle class, members of
Congress would be making a huge political and strategic mistake.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>By Blurring the Party Lines on Trade, the Democrats are Inviting
Disaster in 2008.</STRONG> The country sent a clear message on Election Day in
November 2006: “NO to staying the course on Bush’s trade policy.” Freshmen
Democrats must have opportunities to show that a Democratic Congress means no
more-of-the-same harmful NAFTA-style trade policy. If the Democrats allow the
passage of a new Bush NAFTA-style deal, this will invite another Democratic
wipeout as occurred after the 1993 NAFTA vote blurred the distinction between
the parties on trade. </DIV>
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