Full Text of HR0877 99th General Assembly
HR0877 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The growing trade deficits, driven by the North | 3 | | American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
China's accession to the | 4 | | World Trade Organization, and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade | 5 | | Agreement,
have displaced 700,000 jobs, 3.2 million jobs, and | 6 | | 75,000 jobs respectively; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, U.S. employment in manufacturing dropped by 5 | 8 | | million from 2000 to 2015; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Jobs lost due to trade devastate families and | 10 | | entire communities and can
permanently reduce lifetime | 11 | | earnings for hundreds of thousands of workers; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The long decline of the American manufacturing | 13 | | base, exacerbated by bad trade
policies that reward | 14 | | outsourcing, has undermined our economic security and poses a | 15 | | direct
threat to our national security; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The offshoring of manufacturing and service jobs | 17 | | deprives local and state
governments of sorely needed revenues, | 18 | | jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of public
servants, as | 19 | | well as construction workers whose jobs depend upon | 20 | | infrastructure building, repair,
and maintenance; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. annual trade deficit has increased
| 2 | | dramatically from $70 billion in 1993, the year before NAFTA | 3 | | went into effect, to more than $508
billion in 2014; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Foreign investors have already used NAFTA's | 5 | | investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions to | 6 | | challenge
decisions regarding local building permits, | 7 | | environmental regulations, and state bans on toxic
chemicals | 8 | | and decisions of state courts; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Climate change and environmental degradation | 10 | | threaten communities across the
globe and ISDS provisions in | 11 | | the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may expose nations | 12 | | enacting
policies to fight climate change to ISDS cases that | 13 | | undermine these efforts; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Promoting economic growth with equity in Illinois | 15 | | requires an approach that
reforms the entire trade negotiation | 16 | | process to ensure that the voices of workers, farmers, small
| 17 | | businesses, families, and communities are heard and their | 18 | | interests addressed; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The TPP has effectively shut state and local
| 20 | | governments out of the process, limiting our ability to | 21 | | influence its rules to ensure the people of
Illinois can | 22 | | participate in the benefits of trade; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Given the enactment of fast track trade | 2 | | negotiating authority, states, localities, and
their citizens | 3 | | will have no opportunity to correct shortcomings in the TPP; | 4 | | and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Repeating old mistakes in negotiating new trade | 6 | | agreements such as the TPP
represents a missed opportunity to | 7 | | strengthen our economy, reduce income inequality, and
promote | 8 | | sustainable growth; therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 10 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 11 | | call upon our elected officials in the U.S. Senate and U.S. | 12 | | House of Representatives to oppose the Trans-Pacific | 13 | | Partnership and any similar trade deals if they fail to | 14 | | restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past; and | 15 | | be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That we call upon our
elected officials in the | 17 | | U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to support new | 18 | | trade 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 |
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| 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 | 25 | | delivered to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the |
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| 1 | | Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member | 2 | | of the Illinois congressional delegation.
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