2000 Ron Paul 46:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission
to revise and extend his remarks.)
2000 Ron Paul 46:2
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, today we
have the opportunity to vote to get out
of the WTO. We joined the WTO in 1994
in a lame-duck session hurried up because
it was fearful that the new Members
would not capitulate and go along
with joining the WTO. The WTO was
voted by the House and the Senate as
an agreement, and yet it is clearly a
treaty. It involves 135 countries. It is a
treaty. It has been illegally implemented,
and we are now obligated to
follow the rules of the WTO.
2000 Ron Paul 46:3
This is the size of the agreement that
we signed and voted on in 1994. Now, if
that is not an entangling alliance, I do
not know what could be. It is virtually
impossible to go through this and understand
exactly what we have agreed
to. But this is it, and this is what we
are voting on today. If my colleagues
vote against the resolution, they are
rubber stamping this. That is what
they are doing.
2000 Ron Paul 46:4
Some argue that, yes, indeed the
WTO is not quite perfect. But we need
it. We need the WTO to manage this
trade. But at the same time, they have
no options. We cannot change the
WTO. This is our only opportunity to
vote and dissent on what is happening.
2000 Ron Paul 46:5
The people of this country are being
galvanized in opposition to this. They
never opposed GATT. GATT did not
have the same authority as WTO. But
now the WTO is being found to be very
offensive to a lot of people around this
country.
2000 Ron Paul 46:6
It is said that the WTO has no control
over our sovereignty. That is like
saying the U.N. has no control of our
sovereignty. Yet what body in the
world directs our foreign policy? Where
do we send troops around the world?
Why do we put our troops under U.N.
command? Where do we get authority
to march into Kosovo and Somalia?
From the United Nations. The WTO is
the same.
2000 Ron Paul 46:7
It is the same sort of thing. It is
incrementalism. People say we can always
oppose it. That is sort of like saying
in 1913, The income tax is not all
that bad; it is only 1 percent placed on
the rich. We don’t have to worry about
it. But before we know it, it is out of
control. There is incrementalism here
to be concerned about.
2000 Ron Paul 46:8
To the issue of whether or not we are
obligated to follow the WTO rules, Congressional
Research Service on August
25, 1999, did a study on the WTO. Their
interpretation is this:
2000 Ron Paul 46:9
“As a member of the WTO, the
United States does commit to act in
accordance with the rules of the multilateral
body. It is legally obligated to
ensure national laws do not conflict
with WTO rules.”
2000 Ron Paul 46:10
That is why we will be very soon
changing our tax laws to go along with
what the WTO tells us to do. In an article
recently written by D. Augustino,
he says:
2000 Ron Paul 46:11
“On June 5, WTO Director General
Michael Moore emphasized the obedience
to WTO rulings as not optional.
Quote, the dispute settlement mechanism
is unique in the international architecture.
WTO member governments
bind themselves to the outcome from
panels and if necessary the appellate
body. That is why the WTO has attracted
so much attention from all
sorts of groups who wish to use this
mechanism to advance their interests.”
2000 Ron Paul 46:12
Indeed, this is a treaty that we are
obligated to follow. It is an illegal
treaty because it was never ratified by
the Senate. Even if it had been, it is
not legal because you cannot transfer
authority to an outside body. It is the
U.S. Congress that has the authority to
regulate foreign commerce. Nobody
else. We will change our tax law and
obey the WTO. And just recently, the
European Union has complained to us
because we do not tax sales on the
Internet, and they are going to the
WTO to demand that we change that
law; and if they win, we will have to
change our law. The other side of the
argument being, We don’t have to do it.
We don’t have to do it if we don’t want
to. But then we are not a good member
as we promised to be. Then what does
the WTO do? They punish us with punitive
sanctions, with tariffs. It is a managed
trade war operated by the WTO
and done in secrecy, without us having
any say about it because it is out of
our hands. It is a political event now.
You have to have access to the U.S.
Trade Representative for your case to
be heard. This allows the big money,
the big corporations to be heard and
the little guy gets ignored.
