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porated or operating in the United States are held
liable for harms caused abroad and that persons ag-
grieved by such harms can pursue actions for relief
in the courts of the United States.
SEC. 9. SENSE OF THE HOUSE WITH RESPECT TO REFORM
OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS.
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that,
within 6 months of the passage of this resolution, the
President should begin the process of renegotiating all
agreements regulating international trade, including the
World Trade Organization, the North American Free
Trade Agreement, and bilateral investment treaties, in ac-
cordance with the following policies:
(1) OBJECTIVES.—The renegotiated agreements
should achieve the following objectives:
(A) REORIENTATION.—To reorient trade
and investment to be means to carrying out just
and sustainable development rather than ends
to be maximized for their own sake.
(B) PROCEDURES.—To specify in each
agreement objectives and time frames for
achieving just and sustainable development with
procedures for evaluation and corrective meas-
ures.
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(C) RIGHTS
AND
PROTECTIONS.—To re-
move labor and environmental rights and condi-
tions and social protections as factors of com-
petition, such as by international agreements to
avoid competitive cuts in the social safety nets.
(D) TRUE COSTS.—To incorporate in mar-
ket prices the true long-term costs of industrial
production, including the costs of resource de-
pletion, toxic waste production, total waste, and
disposal or recycling of final product.
(2) SPECIFIC
PROVISIONS.—In renegotiating
the agreements, the United States should pursue the
incorporation of the following specific provisions:
(A) INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTIONS.—En-
forceable provisions that require the contracting
parties to recognize and enforce the principal
conventions of the United Nations and the
International Labor Organization with regard
to the environment, labor, antidiscrimination,
and human rights.
(B) MINIMUM
STANDARDS.—Guaranteed
minimum standards for dignified work, healthy
communities, and a clean environment.
(C) HEIGHTENED STANDARDS.—The right
of local and national governments to set stand-
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ards above the internationally guaranteed mini-
mums.
(D) LOCAL OBJECTIVES.—The right of na-
tions and localities to plan for local economic
development objectives such as raising employ-
ment levels, enhancing employment opportuni-
ties for targeted populations, raising wage levels
in specific industries, dignified work, and
healthy communities.
(E) MARKET
ACCESS.—Preferential mar-
ket access for less developed countries as a
means to accelerate development and counter
global inequality.
(F) STABILIZATION.—Commodity price,
production, and market stabilization as a means
to encourage stability and development in poor-
er countries.
(G) ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY.—Rapid and
inexpensive access to all forms of technical
knowledge to aid sustainable development.
(H) OWNERSHIP.—Protection of the right
of countries to take legal measures that require
public or state ownership in some sectors, exclu-
sive national ownership in some sectors, and na-
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tional participation in the ownership of some
sectors.
(I) PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS.—Pro-
tection of the right of countries to make per-
formance requirements designed to achieve
local, regional, and national economic objec-
tives, such as requirements for local inputs and
local hiring preferences.
(J) ANTISPECULATIVE PROVISIONS.—Pro-
tection of the right of countries to make
antispeculative provisions, such as requirements
that investments remain in place for a min-
imum period.
(K) CONSERVATION.—The requirement,
for purposes of ecological conservation, that
local permission be obtained for the exploitation
of natural resources.
(L) DISCLOSURE.—Full public disclosure
of all trade negotiations.
(M) FUNDING.—Funding mechanisms that
levy surcharges on increases in trade flows to
pay for environmental consequences of trade,
such as border pollution and increased trans-
port, and social consequences of trade, such as
loss of jobs and tax base.
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(3) REPORT.—Within 1 year after the passage
of this resolution and annually thereafter, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury should submit a report to the
Congress that describes the progress made in imple-
menting this section with respect to each agreement
subject to this section.
(4) SATISFACTION
OF
CONGRESS.—For each
agreement subject to this section, the United States
should withdraw from the agreement in accordance
with the withdrawal provisions contained in the
agreement unless, within 6 months after the submis-
sion of any report under paragraph (3) with respect
to the agreement, the House of Representatives and
the Senate do not each pass a resolution containing
an expression of satisfaction with the progress made
in implementing this section with respect to the
agreement.
(5) TRADE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATING AUTHOR-
ITY.—The Congress should terminate all existing
grants of trade agreement negotiating authority.
The United States should immediately cease ongoing
negotiations of new trade and investment agree-
ments until such time as the Congress passes new
negotiating authority and objectives.
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