/* Written 7:14 AM Jul 19, 1994 by kmander in igc:trade.news */ /* ---------- "GATT Alert! 7-19-94" ---------- */ GATT Alert! Tuesday, July 19, 1994 ____________________________________________________ Headlines: GATT Protest This Wednesday State Treasurers Worried About GATT Conrad Amendment Aims to Protect State Laws GATT Will Impact Native Americans Ag Senators Press Clinton on GATT Bedfellows Getting Stranger as Schlafly Denounces GATT GATT Should Be Considered A Treaty ____________________________________________________ -GATT Protest This Wednesday- The Citizens Trade Campaign is staging a protest against GATT this Wednesday, July 20 in Washington, D.C. If you can make it, meet on the Capitol Grounds, Southeast corner, facing the Supreme Court at 12:00 Noon. Speak out for the environment, for worker rights, for family farmers, and for U.S. sovereignty. For more information, call the CTC at (202) 879-4297. ____________________________________________________ -State Treasurers Worried About GATT- Treasurers from 30 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia sent President Clinton a letter July 15 stating their concerns about lost revenue and threats to state laws resulting from GATT. National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) President Marshall Bennett of Mississippi said "state and local governments should be fully informed as to the treaty's provisions which would modify state and local laws and revenue from taxes, fees and exemptions." Because GATT could undermine State powers of taxation, the treasurers asked to participate in the State-Federal Consultation Summit that state attorneys general have proposed. For more information contact: NAST's Milton Wells (202) 624-8595. ____________________________________________________ -Conrad Amendment Aims to Protect State Laws- Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) has proposed an amendment to GATT implementing legislation that would protect U.S. laws from the World Trade Organization. The Conrad amendment would require that local and state laws, like federal laws, be preempted by future congressional action, not by the WTO or the U.S. Trade Representative. While administration officials maintain the WTO would not preempt U.S. laws they also oppose any amendment that would require congressional action to preempt state and local laws. Point out the contradiction when contacting members of Congress and the administration. ____________________________________________________ -GATT Will Impact Native Americans- According to documents obtained from the U.S. Trade Representative's office, the Uruguay Round will permit challenges to laws of all "sub-federal jurisdictions" which they define as "states and their political subdivisions, the District of Columbia and Indian Tribes." Tribal leaders have apparently not been notified of this important change in their status or of the implications of this action. This attempt to give foreign corporations and governments the power to challenge and potentially retaliate against Indian laws and regulations is an unprecedented assault on treaty rights. For a copy of the 4-page paper, "The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Impacts on Indigenous Peoples," send $1 and a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Fair Trade Campaign, address below. ____________________________________________________ -Ag Senators Press Clinton on GATT- In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, several members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, including Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) expressed their dissatisfaction with Canada's refusal "to offer any meaningful access to Canadian dairy markets." They contend that the Uruguay Round and NAFTA require that all tariffs between the U.S. and Canada be eliminated and that there should be no tariffs inhibiting U.S. dairy product exports to Canada. ____________________________________________________ -Bedfellows Getting Stranger as Schlafly Denounces GATT- In case there are any fence-sitters out there, this should further confuse you: arch-conservative Phyllis Schlafly has come out against GATT and the World Trade Organization. In a fund-raising letter that pulls no punches in attacking President Clinton, Schlafly calls GATT "the terrible new threat to the sovereignty and independence of our nation." Schlafly denounces the World Trade Organization because the United States "will have only one vote out of 117 -- the same vote as Cuba or Haiti." Schlafly joins conservatives Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia), Senator Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) and Patrick Buchanan in opposing GATT. Oddly, that group finds itself allied against GATT with usual enemies, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, environmental groups and others. ____________________________________________________ -GATT Should Be Considered A Treaty- A member of the United Kingdom's House of Commons is planning to send a letter to the Speaker demanding that GATT should be treated as a treaty because it requires national laws to conform with its laws. A treaty must be incorporated into domestic law by an act of Parliament. ____________________________________________________ If you have news about local activities or anything else, please send a note to the Fair Trade Campaign, Box 80066, Minneapolis, MN 55408. For information on receiving GATT ALERT!, call (612) 379- 5965.
