Environment and Energy Daily | By J.L. Laws | December 6, 2001
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) made several changes to H.R. 3005, his bill to grant the Bush administration broader authority to negotiate free trade agreements, during a Rules Committee meeting Wednesday night. The changes were a last-ditch effort to attract elusive Democratic support as the bill heads to the floor Thursday. Upon hearing about Thomas' planned changes Wednesday, House Minority Whip David Bonior (D-Wis.) predicted House GOP leaders still would not attract enough Democratic votes to pass the controversial bill. "Bill Thomas does not have those votes. It's echoing throughout the campus here," Bonior told reporters Wednesday. Bonior opted not to say how many Democrats are expected to vote for the bill, but said it would be the lowest number for any major trade bill that has come to the floor over the last eight or more years. Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), however, remained confident during Wednesday's Republican Conference, telling reporters, "It's moving our way." In a separate effort to attract more undecided lawmakers, Thomas on Wednesday said he will push during negotiations with Senate lawmakers to increase the amount of aid available for displaced workers in the House-passed economic stimulus bill from $9 billion to roughly $30 billion, and that he would significantly expand benefits in H.R. 3008, a trade adjustment assistance reauthorization bill his committee passed earlier this year. Some pro-trade Democrats, such as Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), said Thomas' assurances alone are not enough to win his vote. Thomas added language to H.R. 3005 stating that an overall administration negotiating objective is seeking provisions in trade agreements that "strive to ensure" parties to the agreement don't weaken or reduce domestic labor and environmental laws to gain a trade advantage. Thomas also added language on foreign investment, directing the administration to seek agreements that do not put foreign investors rights above those already afforded by U.S. law, with regard to lawsuits over environmental and human health laws. Thomas' amendment also directs the administration to seek greater transparency in investor/state dispute resolutions, as well as an appeals mechanism. Thomas also moved to enhance congressional oversight by providing a mechanism allowing Congress to withhold fast track negotiating authority for a certain trade agreement if the administration fails to consult with Congress or meet the objectives set forth in the legislation. The Rules Committee approved a closed rule for the bill, providing one hour for debate equally divided between the two parties and waiving all points of order. Before Thomas made the changes, Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder declared them a "greenwash" and urged members to vote against the bill. Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.) and a group of 12 other pro-trade Democrats on Wednesday urged House Republican leaders to cancel the vote, and asked them to open negotiations on a new measure. All 13 Democrats reject Thomas' changes to his bill, which they said would still fall short on the negotiating status of labor and environmental protection and congressional oversight mechanisms, and fail to adequately ensure foreign investors will not have more power than U.S. citizens or companies to sue state, local or federal governments over environmental or human health laws. During a separate press conference held with several environmental groups Wednesday, Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) said Thomas has refused to go far enough in H.R. 3005 to protect health and environmental protection laws from lawsuits by foreign investors. Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement allows foreign investors to seek monetary damages if they believe environmental or human health laws in the country they operate represent a barrier to free trade. The challenges are decided by secret NAFTA tribunals. The environmental movement argues H.R. 3005 would give the administration carte blanche to negotiate Chapter 11-like provisions in future trade agreements and possibly at the World Trade Organization. In one of the most-publicized cases, Canada's Methanex Corp. has challenged California's decision to phase out and eventually ban the use of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), designed to cut harmful auto emissions but found to contaminate public drinking water supplies. Methanex, a leading producer of Methanol -- a key MTBE ingredient, demanded that MTBE continue to be used in California, or be awarded $970 million in damages to cover lost revenue. Methanex filed its claim in December 1999. The following March, the Environmental Protection Agency officially announced it was considering banning or limiting the use of MTBE and asked for public feedback. But since then, EPA has not proposed a formal MTBE regulation, leading environmentalists and public health advocates to believe the delay is the result of Methanex's NAFTA lawsuit. "My state found out what happens when we allow corporations to run our environmental laws," Miller said. "We must not allow this administration to further surrender our sovereignty over these laws." President Bush met face-to-face Wednesday with a handful of undecided Republicans and then with several undecided Democrats, trying to persuade them to grant him trade promotion authority. Democratic aides argue Bush, understandably devoted to the war effort and homeland security issues, has not devoted enough personal attention to trade negotiating authority to win it, instead delegating the lobbying effort to Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.Environment and Energy Daily:
