HR0877LRB099 15419 GRL 39719 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The growing trade deficits, driven by the North
3American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), China's accession to the
4World Trade Organization, and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade
5Agreement, have displaced 700,000 jobs, 3.2 million jobs, and
675,000 jobs respectively; and
 
7    WHEREAS, U.S. employment in manufacturing dropped by 5
8million from 2000 to 2015; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Jobs lost due to trade devastate families and
10entire communities and can permanently reduce lifetime
11earnings for hundreds of thousands of workers; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The long decline of the American manufacturing
13base, exacerbated by bad trade policies that reward
14outsourcing, has undermined our economic security and poses a
15direct threat to our national security; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The offshoring of manufacturing and service jobs
17deprives local and state governments of sorely needed revenues,
18jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of public servants, as
19well as construction workers whose jobs depend upon
20infrastructure building, repair, and maintenance; and
 

 

 

HR0877- 2 -LRB099 15419 GRL 39719 r

1    WHEREAS, The U.S. annual trade deficit has increased
2dramatically from $70 billion in 1993, the year before NAFTA
3went into effect, to more than $508 billion in 2014; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Foreign investors have already used NAFTA's
5investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions to
6challenge decisions regarding local building permits,
7environmental regulations, and state bans on toxic chemicals
8and decisions of state courts; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Climate change and environmental degradation
10threaten communities across the globe and ISDS provisions in
11the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may expose nations
12enacting policies to fight climate change to ISDS cases that
13undermine these efforts; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Promoting economic growth with equity in Illinois
15requires an approach that reforms the entire trade negotiation
16process to ensure that the voices of workers, farmers, small
17businesses, families, and communities are heard and their
18interests addressed; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The TPP has effectively shut state and local
20governments out of the process, limiting our ability to
21influence its rules to ensure the people of Illinois can
22participate in the benefits of trade; and
 

 

 

HR0877- 3 -LRB099 15419 GRL 39719 r

1    WHEREAS, Given the enactment of fast track trade
2negotiating authority, states, localities, and their citizens
3will have no opportunity to correct shortcomings in the TPP;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, Repeating old mistakes in negotiating new trade
6agreements such as the TPP represents a missed opportunity to
7strengthen our economy, reduce income inequality, and promote
8sustainable growth; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
11call upon our elected officials in the U.S. Senate and U.S.
12House of Representatives to oppose the Trans-Pacific
13Partnership and any similar trade deals if they fail to
14restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past; and
15be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That we call upon our elected officials in the
17U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to support new
18trade deals such as the TPP only if they do the following:
19        (1) protect and promote traditional state and local
20    prerogatives and authority under our federal system by
21    ensuring that states and localities will not be required to
22    comply with certain commitments, including any

 

 

HR0877- 4 -LRB099 15419 GRL 39719 r

1    restrictions on preferences for local, state, or U.S. goods
2    or services, without prior informed consent of the
3    legislature or local lawmaking body;
4        (2) ensure balanced trade and address the excessive,
5    job-killing U.S. trade deficit;
6        (3) include enforceable rules against currency
7    manipulation;
8        (4) exclude investor-to-state dispute settlement
9    (ISDS) and other provisions that favor foreign companies
10    over domestic ones and undermine public choices;
11        (5) ensure that countries cannot undercut U.S.-based
12    producers with weaker labor and environmental laws and
13    enforcement;
14        (6) ensure that the U.S. will engage in robust
15    enforcement of trade rules, including labor and
16    environmental rules;
17        (7) include strong rules of origin to promote economic
18    growth and job creation in the U.S.;
19        (8) promote high standards of protection for
20    workplaces, products, and natural resources rather than
21    promoting a race to the bottom; and
22        (9) put the interests of people over the interests of
23    private profit; and be it further
 
24    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
25delivered to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the

 

 

HR0877- 5 -LRB099 15419 GRL 39719 r

1Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member
2of the Illinois congressional delegation.