IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 217

Expressing the sense of the Congress that Miami, Florida, and not a competing foreign city, should serve as the permanent location for the Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) beginning in

2005.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 1, 1999

Mr. SHAW (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr.

FOLEY, Mr. GOSS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. THURMAN, Mrs. MEEK

of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. DEUTSCH,

Mr. MICA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mrs. FOWLER, and Mr. BILIRAKIS)

submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress that Miami, Florida,

and not a competing foreign city, should serve as the

permanent location for the Secretariat of the Free Trade

Area of the Americas (FTAA) beginning in 2005.

Whereas deliberations on establishing a ‘‘Free Trade Area of

the Americas’’ (FTAA) will help facilitate greater cooperation and understanding on trade barrier reduction

throughout the Americas;

Whereas the trade ministers of 34 countries of the Western

Hemisphere agreed in 1998 to create a permanent Secre-
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•HCON 217 IH

tariat in order to support negotiations on establishing the

FTAA;

Whereas the FTAA Secretariat will employ persons to provide logistical, administrative, archival, translation, publication, and distribution support for the negotiations;

Whereas the FTAA Secretariat will be funded by a combination of local resources and institutional resources from a

tripartite committee consisting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of American

States (OAS), and the United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);

Whereas the temporary site of the FTAA Secretariat will be

located in Miami, Florida, from 1999 until February 28,

2001, at which point the Secretariat will rotate to Panama City, Panama, until February 28, 2003, and then

rotate to Mexico City, Mexico, until February 28, 2005;

Whereas by 2005 the FTAA Secretariat will have international institution status providing jobs and tremendous

economic benefits to its host city;

Whereas a permanent site for the FTAA Secretariat after

2005 will likely be selected from among the 3 temporary

host cities;

Whereas the city of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and the

State of Florida have long served as the gateway for

trade with the Caribbean and Latin America;

Whereas trade between the city of Miami, Florida, and the

countries of Latin America and the Caribbean totaled

$36,793,000,000 in 1998;

Whereas the Miami-Dade area and the State of Florida possess the necessary infrastructure, local resources, and
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•HCON 217 IH

culture necessary for the FTAA Secretariat’s permanent

site;

Whereas the United States possesses the world’s largest economy and is the leading proponent of trade liberalization

throughout the world; and

Whereas the city of Miami, Florida, the State of Florida, and

the United States are uniquely situated among other

competing locations to host the ‘‘Brussels of the Western

Hemisphere’’: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the

3 President should direct the United States representative

4 to the ‘‘Free Trade Area of the Americas’’ (FTAA) nego5 tiations to use all available means in order to secure

6 Miami, Florida, as the permanent site of the FTAA Secre7 tariat after February 28, 2005.

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