CORRECTIVE REPRINT
PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 387 PRINTER'S NO. 847
No. 64 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY CLYMER, ARMSTRONG, BASTIAN, BEBKO-JONES,
BIANCUCCI, CALTAGIRONE, CAWLEY, CORRIGAN, CRAHALLA, CRUZ,
DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO, FABRIZIO, FAIRCHILD, FREEMAN, GERGELY,
GRUCELA, HARHART, HERSHEY, W. KELLER, KIRKLAND, KOTIK,
LEDERER, LEH, LEVDANSKY, McGEEHAN, MELIO, MUNDY, O'NEILL,
PALLONE, READSHAW, ROHRER, SATHER, SCAVELLO, SHANER, STERN,
THOMAS, TIGUE, WHEATLEY, WOJNAROSKI, GOODMAN, ARGALL, JAMES
AND WILT, FEBRUARY 9, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, FEBRUARY 9, 2005
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to place a moratorium
2 on new free trade agreements, to investigate and review
3 current free trade agreements and policies of the United
4 States, to investigate and review participation of the United
5 States with international trade organizations and to ensure
6 that such agreements, policies and participation are in the
7 best interests of the citizens of the Commonwealth of
8 Pennsylvania and the United States.
9 WHEREAS, Since 1990 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has lost
10 228,300 manufacturing jobs, half of them between 2001 and 2003;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, Manufacturing has a spin-off effect of three to
13 seven jobs created for each manufacturing job; and
14 WHEREAS, Free trade agreements and policies of the United
15 States with other nations have severely impacted American
16 manufacturing industries and the workers they employ; and
17 WHEREAS, Participation by the United States in international
1 trade organizations may imperil the success of American
2 manufacturing; and
3 WHEREAS, Foreign nations, such as China, have engaged in a
4 wide range of unfair trading practices, including the
5 manipulation of currency, subsidizing industries and dumping
6 below-cost subsidized products into the United States market;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, United States manufacturers cannot compete with
9 foreign companies who pay a small fraction of the salaries paid
10 to United States manufacturing employees, provide no health
11 benefits to their workers, do not have to comply with any
12 governmental requirements for the safety of their employees or
13 for the protection of the environment, pay no pensions and are
14 government subsidized; and
15 WHEREAS, The citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are
16 being harmfully impacted by trade agreements and policies
17 between the United States and foreign nations, resulting in the
18 closing of many of our manufacturing industries, negatively
19 impacting our families, our communities and the Commonwealth at
20 large when thousands of workers lose their jobs; therefore be it
21 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
22 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the
23 United States to place a moratorium on all new trade agreements,
24 to investigate and review all current free trade agreements and
25 policies of the United States, to investigate and review
26 participation of the United States in international trade
27 organizations, and to ensure that such agreements, policies and
28 participation are in the best interests of the citizens of the
29 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States; and be it
30 further
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1 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
2 the President and Congress of the United States, to the
3 presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each member
4 of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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