Atlasian Worker Defense Act

[Bono]

§ 1 The North American Free Trade Agreement is hereby repealed.

§ 2 All of the North American Free Trade Agreement's regulations upon production and sales of goods and services, inspections, patents, or any others, and the side agreements inherant to it, are hereby repealed.

§ 3 Goods and services entering the territory of Atlasia, provenient from the other signataries of the North American Free Trade Agreement shall be given the same treatment for effects of inspections, duties and tariffs as goods and services from other countries, with regard to the International Conventions Atlasia has signed about it.

§ 4 The Secretary of State shall be given a mandate to negotiate a trade agreement with Canada, concerning metalic and non-metalic minerals and agrucultural goods.

§ 5 This bill and the ammendments to this bill shall become effective six months after its passage, with the exception of § 5, which shall be effective immediately.

[Bono]

Does this mean that we're also going to be pulling out of talks over the Free Trade Area of the Americas?

Well, I don't think we can stop the executive from engaging in whatever negotiations it wants, but I think by passing this we are giving them an inequivocal message.

[Bono]

This will meet a Veto from me for sure.

But my, the competitive contracting and unionization act, that's good stuff-

[Bono]

The question that must be asked about NAFTA is a simple one; who's benifited from it?

Have the hardworking folks of my district benifited? The miles of rusting steelworks, ruined and burned out factories and dying coal towns in my district speak for themselves.
Have ordinary Mexicans benifited? No... of course not. Mexico still has an appalling poverty problem, wages are low, labor laws are lax, working conditions are poor and it is becoming economically dependent on Atlasia to a worrying extent.
So who has benifited? I speak for my constituents when I say the answer is obvious... Yet again the only people to benifit in a meaningful way are out of touch Corperate Fat Cat's. Why should our trade policy be dependent on the whims of a tiny minority, most of which belong behind bars anyway?

NAFTA is bad for Atlasia, bad for Mexico and, as Senator Gabu points out, even bad for "Free Trade"... and I support it's repeal.

Senator, that has nothing to do with NAFTA and you should know it.  While I admit to being touched by your appeal and I feel a great deal of your pain on this issue... I must say that ending Free Trade with Japan or the EU would go further to bringing the steel factories back.

It is however, my opinion that free trade between free nations is beneficial for all peoples of the world as nations that come to rely on each other economically come to rely on each other in other ways and thus, cooperation is born.  To cut ourselves off from the trade of others is a large step towards cutting ourselves off from the world.

While I agree that we should look to further review of those portions of the Agreement involving Mexico to figure out how we can bring a great benefit there, the benefits of this agreement in Atlasia have been long felt by her people.

The fact is that most manufacturing jobs in this country are not going to Mexico or China, they are going to machines work in a manner efficient enough to drive down the prices of good so that more Atlasians can afford them.

My fellow Senators, we call this "progress" and in order for our country to keep progressing, as it always has, we must stop thinking about how we can take it back into the past.

During the campaign, I pledged to help mining communities and old base manufacturing towns, and I intend to keep that pledge, as I support renewing these areas so that they can escape old patterns.

I have asked Senator Al to help me in these efforts, and I hope that he will responde soon.  I, however, mst move against him on this issue.  I do not support this bill, my fellow Senators, and I ask all of you to make serious judgements about the future of our nation and the world when considering this peice of legislation.

I yield back the floor.

Soulty, you are deluded if you think NAFTA is in any way free trade. it's regulations, as Gabu pointed ou,t drive up health care costs, harm our competitivity, and deprives us of our soberany. NAFTA uses free trade rethoric, but it's not free trade in teh true acception of the word.

[Bono]

bump. Debate, dammit.

[Bono]

Can we get an opening?

[Bono]

Aye.