IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 217
Expressing the sense of the Congress that Miami, Florida, and not a com-
peting foreign city, should serve as the permanent location for the Secre-
tariat 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 co-
operation 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-
•HCON 217 IH
tariat in order to support negotiations on establishing the
FTAA;
Whereas the FTAA Secretariat will employ persons to pro-
vide logistical, administrative, archival, translation, publi-
cation, and distribution support for the negotiations;
Whereas the FTAA Secretariat will be funded by a combina-
tion of local resources and institutional resources from a
tripartite committee consisting of the Inter-American De-
velopment Bank (IDB), the Organization of American
States (OAS), and the United Nations Economic Com-
mission 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 Pan-
ama 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 inter-
national 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 pos-
sess the necessary infrastructure, local resources, and
•HCON 217 IH
culture necessary for the FTAA Secretariat’s permanent
site;
Whereas the United States possesses the world’s largest econ-
omy 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
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the
President should direct the United States representative
to the ‘‘Free Trade Area of the Americas’’ (FTAA) nego-
tiations to use all available means in order to secure
Miami, Florida, as the permanent site of the FTAA Secre-
tariat after February 28, 2005.
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