Thurs AGOA mark-up in Ways and Means

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

>From Mike Dolan of the Citizens Trade Campaign:

[this just in]
HR-434 a/k/a
NAFTA for Africa
Africa Recolonization Act
is on the agenda of the House Ways and Means Committee for this Thursday 
afternoon (6/10) for a "full committee mark-up" (the last legislative step 
before a bill can be scheduled for a floor vote).

We oppose this retrograde legislation for a variety of reason which are set 
forth and fleshed out at www.tradewatch.org, from which address we clipped 
the following pithy description.

Call your congressional delegation:  NO NAFTA FOR AFRICA!

******************************************
The African Growth and Opportunity Act II:
>From Bad to Worse

Members of Congress and African and U.S.-based church, community and 
Africa advocacy groups, economists and trade specialists opposed the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act (a.k.a. NAFTA for Africa) in 1997.

This opposition was based on:
Imposition of harsh IMF-style domestic budget cuts in health and 
education, privatization through divestiture of public assets, cuts in 
corporate taxes, etc.; 
Narrow, short term trade benefits limited mainly 
to textiles and apparel; 
Lack of binding language on debt relief and 
aid; and 
No rules to ensure that production is in Africa or that 
Africans are employed by companies reaping the bill's market access 
benefits, much less that basic internationally recognized labor or 
environmental rules are followed.

Now, as the bill is reintroduced in the new Congress, all of the 
pre-existing problems remain. This year's "African Growth and 
Opportunity Act" is almost identical to last year's House version of the 
bill, EXCEPT three good, if insufficient, provisions were eliminated!

How NAFTA for Africa II is actually worse:
The new version of the bill removes any mention of the word "aid":
Rather than strengthening non-binding language recognizing the 
effectiveness of aid and its importance and the need for future funding, 
the entire section on development assistance has been expunged from the 
bill. 
A human rights provision was deleted: The provision suggesting that 
nations engaging in gross violations of human rights not be eligible for 
benefits under the bill was stripped out. Meanwhile, 11 of the 12 other 
requirements -- those that require sub-Sahara African countries to 
restructure their economies to suit U.S. corporate access-- remain in 
the bill, completely unchanged. 
An anti-slavery provision was deleted: The provision suggesting that 
nations not cooperating with efforts to eradicate slavery not be 
eligible for benefits under the bill was stripped out.