Fast Track Vote
Published February 2002
Message from Public Citizen TradeWatch Organizer/FTAA Coordinator Timi Gerson
The grassroots fight against Fast Track was the most impressive fair trade field ever. It has been an honor and pleasure working with you and we look forward to doing so in the future. We have our future work cut out for us (FTAA, WTO, WEF here we come!) but despite the one vote loss on Fast Track in the House, the progress made in this vote is something we should all be very proud of. If we can put this vote into context: Think back to 1991's Fast Track fight, when we lost a wide swath of those who claimed to be pro-labor, pro-environment, pro-democracy, including many, many Democrats.
Year by year, fight by fight we have reshaped the entire debate on trade and globalization in this country. Going into the future, we now have new Congressional and organizational allies committed to a progressive vision on trade. If you think forward to the long term consequences of today's partisan, narrow, nasty, Fast Track vote, while we suffered a loss today, it is a pyrrhic victory for the corporate- managed trade lobby given how it leaves the Congress polarized and bitter.
Fast Track passed by only one vote 215-214, with 197 of the votes for Fast Track coming from Republicans--including a bloc of Republican 'yes' votes coming from longtime foes of Fast Track, NAFTA and WTO. The GOP could not have passed this retrograde trade legislation absent the current national emergency, and we will remember this for what it is--crass political profiteering. Given the sort of unprecedented dirty fighting, to have come this close to beating the multi-million dollar campaign put on by the unholy triumvirate of the GOP House leadership, the Bush Administration, and multinational corporations is a testament to the incredible power and resourcefulness of the grassroots (i.e. YOU!).
This vote was dead in the water before the terrorist attacks and they only got it passed by Republicans in Congress seduced with the line about shaming a wartime President. Even within the wartime context, they could only pass the bill by one vote and that was in part because we had two of our votes out on medical emergencies.
Remember, in 1997 and in 1998, Fast Track was stopped; in 1998, the MAI negotiations were tanked; and in 1999, the planned WTO expansion was halted. We have more work to do.
In solidarity, Timi tgerson@citizen.org & www.tradewatch.org ph: 202-454-5103
Local update:
Louise Slaughter and John LaFalce voted against Fast Track. Our
efforts may have helped elsewhere, as two of the four upstate Republicans
who were undecided, Jim Walsh and John McHugh, also voted against
it.