Activists Occupy Senator Jeffords Office: Demanding He Vote against Fast Track

Activists Occupy Senator Jeffords Office: Demanding He Vote against Fast Track

S’ra DeSantis

This Tuesday, six other activists and I occupied Senator James Jeffords’ office in Burlington, VT demanding he vote against Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). We locked together with PVC lock-boxes and refused to leave until Jeffords complied with our demands or we were physically removed. After entering the office a banner was hung across the street that read: "Jeffords: Stop the FTAA, Derail Fast Track, No New NAFTAs".

After four hours in the office we were cut and sawed out of the boxes by police and firefighters. We were charged with trespassing, hindering arrest and resisting arrest. The last two charges were dropped at our arraignment the following day.

Background on TPA and NAFTA

Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) takes all negotiating power away from Congress and gives it to the trade representative’s office of the Executive Branch. The bill’s name was conveniently changed from Fast Track to Trade Promotion Authority to conceal its true intentions. Fast Track intends to accelerate the process of implementing free trade agreements. Under Trade Promotion Authority, Congress must vote yes or no for an entire free trade agreement. Congress cannot amend or modify any portion of a free trade agreement.

The last Fast Track bill only provided Congress sixty days to review any free trade agreement negotiated under Fast Track. The House and Senate were only given 20 hours each to negotiate the agreement on the floor. This gives little or no time for indigenous rights advocates, trade unionists, human rights advocates and environmentalists to express their concerns about the pending free trade agreement. Fast Track hijacks any vestiges left in the eroding "democratic" system in the United States. As people that believe in direct democratic forms of decision making, we think TPA is the antithesis to even the illusion of democracy.

The last time Fast Track was in place, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were ratified. This TPA will apply to the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and any other multilateral or bilateral trade agreements the United States negotiates.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a disaster for all three NAFTA countries and has impacted Mexico most severely. NAFTA has caused the loss of jobs and lower wages in all three countries, the annulment of laws that protect indigenous rights and the environment, increased pollution and birth defects on the Mexican-U.S. border, and the displacement of tens of thousands of Mexican farmers due to the influx of cheap subsidized grain from the United States.

In Vermont, alone, over 600 people lost their jobs during the first three years of NAFTA. The Northeast Dairy Compact or any similar bill that helps Vermont dairy farmers with guaranteed prices, could be considered a barrier to trade under NAFTA or the proposed FTAA. The Investor-to-State Dispute Resolution Body of NAFTA and the pending FTAA grant foreign investors the right to receive compensation if a law impedes their ability to make a profit. A Canadian company could sue the United States’ government if the Northeast Dairy Compact was reinstated because it favors dairy farmers in Vermont. The company could be entitled to millions of dollars in compensation from taxpayer money.

Why We Are Occupying Jeffords’ Office

Jan Marinelli, a staff person at Jeffords’ office, informed us in December 2001 that the majority of people who called the office in reference to Fast Track, expressed opposition to the bill. In December, Jeffords voted in favor of the Senate version of the Fast Track bill in the Finance Committee. In January 2002, after much pressure from Vermonters, Jeffords at a book signing stated to a group of thirty Fast Track opponents, some of who are locked down today, that he would not vote in favor of Trade Promotion Authority. Two weeks later when several people called to confirm his decision, Jeffords’ staff declared that Jeffords had made a mistake and intended to vote in favor of Fast Track.

Our group has spoken with Jeffords’ staff repeatedly and sent numerous letters urging him to vote against Fast Track. He lied to us publicly to avoid scrutiny at his book signing. Our group believes we had no other choice than to take non-violent direct action since all other avenues have been exhausted. Jeffords must realize the threat that Fast Track poses to the sovereignty of communities. We demand Jeffords be accountable to the people he claims to represent.

We stand in solidarity with people throughout the world, especially indigenous peoples, who are most affected by free trade agreements, as their land and resources are privatized and then invaded by multinational corporations. Trade Promotion Authority is the next step in the imperialist war against the environment, workers, farmers, the indigenous and the poor.

Hopefully, Jeffords will finally listen to his constituency and vote against Fast Track. This would be a vote in favor of the indigenous, the environment, farmers, and workers (all of which he claims to support). Communities throughout the world must be given the opportunity to decide through direct democratic processes if they want to engage in trade globally and what the terms of trade are. This process can no longer be dictated by corporate and government elites and international financial institutions.