Full Text of SR1224 099th General Assembly
SR1224 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, U.S. trade deals for the past 25 years have been | 3 | | corporate-driven, incorporating
rules that skew benefits to | 4 | | economic elites while requiring working families to bear the | 5 | | brunt of
such policies; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The growing trade deficits, driven by the North | 7 | | American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
China's accession to the | 8 | | World Trade Organization, and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade | 9 | | Agreement,
have displaced 700,000 jobs, 3.2 million jobs, and | 10 | | 75,000 jobs respectively; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, U.S. employment in manufacturing dropped by 5 | 12 | | million from 2000 to 2015; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Jobs lost due to trade devastate families and | 14 | | entire communities and can
permanently reduce lifetime | 15 | | earnings for hundreds of thousands of workers; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The long decline of the American manufacturing | 17 | | base, exacerbated by bad trade
policies that reward | 18 | | outsourcing, has undermined our economic security and poses a | 19 | | direct
threat to our national security; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, The offshoring of manufacturing and service jobs |
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| 1 | | deprives local and state
governments of sorely needed revenues, | 2 | | jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of public
servants, as | 3 | | well as construction workers whose jobs depend upon | 4 | | infrastructure building, repair,
and maintenance; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Under NAFTA-style trade rules, the U.S.'s annual | 6 | | trade deficit has increased
dramatically from $70 billion in | 7 | | 1993, the year before NAFTA went into effect, to more than $508
| 8 | | billion in 2014; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, The disproportionate voice of powerful global | 10 | | corporations in the formation of
U.S. "free trade" agreements | 11 | | has advanced an agenda that undermines the public interest and
| 12 | | threatens democracy; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, NAFTA, and all but 2 of the U.S. trade deals that | 14 | | followed it, includes special
legal rights for foreign | 15 | | investors, known as "investor-to-state dispute settlement" or | 16 | | ISDS, that
allow foreign firms to bypass state and federal | 17 | | courts to challenge state and local laws,
regulations, and | 18 | | administrative and judicial decisions in international | 19 | | tribunals; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Foreign investors have already used NAFTA's ISDS | 21 | | provisions to challenge
decisions regarding local building | 22 | | permits, environmental regulations, and state bans on toxic
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| 1 | | chemicals and decisions of state courts; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Climate change and environmental degradation | 3 | | threaten communities across the
globe and ISDS provisions in | 4 | | the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may expose nations | 5 | | enacting
policies to fight climate change to ISDS cases that | 6 | | undermine these efforts; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Promoting economic growth with equity in Illinois | 8 | | requires an approach that
reforms the entire trade negotiation | 9 | | process to ensure that the voices of workers, farmers, small
| 10 | | businesses, families, and communities are heard and their | 11 | | interests addressed; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The TPP has been negotiated in secret, effectively | 13 | | shutting state and local
governments out of the process, | 14 | | limiting our ability to influence its rules to ensure the | 15 | | people of
Illinois can participate in the benefits of trade; | 16 | | and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Given the enactment of fast track trade | 18 | | negotiating authority, states, localities, and
their citizens | 19 | | will have no opportunity to correct shortcomings in the TPP | 20 | | because its text will not
be made public until it is final and | 21 | | can no longer be improved; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Repeating old mistakes in negotiating new trade | 2 | | agreements such as the TPP
represents a missed opportunity to | 3 | | strengthen our economy, reduce income inequality, and
promote | 4 | | sustainable growth; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 6 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call upon our | 7 | | elected officials in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of | 8 | | Representatives to oppose the TPP and any similar trade deals | 9 | | if they fail to restructure the misguided and failed policies | 10 | | of the past; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That we call upon our
elected officials in the | 12 | | U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to support new | 13 | | trade deals
such as the TPP only if they do the following: | 14 | | (1) protect and promote traditional state and local | 15 | | prerogatives and authority under our
federal system, | 16 | | including by ensuring that states and localities will not | 17 | | be required to
comply with certain commitments, including | 18 | | any restrictions on preferences for local,
state, or U.S. | 19 | | goods or services, without prior informed consent of the | 20 | | legislature or local
lawmaking body; | 21 | | (2) ensure balanced trade and address the excessive, | 22 | | job-killing U.S. trade deficit; | 23 | | (3) include enforceable rules against currency | 24 | | manipulation, which countries such as China
and Japan have |
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| 1 | | used to tilt the playing field in their favor; | 2 | | (4) exclude investor-to-state dispute settlement | 3 | | (ISDS) and other provisions that favor
foreign companies | 4 | | over domestic ones and undermine public choices; | 5 | | (5) ensure that countries cannot undercut U.S.-based | 6 | | producers with weaker labor and
environmental laws and | 7 | | enforcement; | 8 | | (6) ensure that the U.S. will engage in robust | 9 | | enforcement of trade rules, including labor and
| 10 | | environmental rules; | 11 | | (7) include strong rules of origin to promote economic | 12 | | growth and job creation in the U.S.; | 13 | | (8) promote high standards of protection for | 14 | | workplaces, products, and natural resources
rather than | 15 | | promoting a race to the bottom; and | 16 | | (9) put the interests of people and the planet over the | 17 | | interests of private profit; and be it further | 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 19 | | delivered to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the | 20 | | Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member | 21 | | of the Illinois congressional delegation.
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