U.S.-Oman Free Trade
Agreement Enables Foreign Company to Operate U.S. Ports !!!
Transcript of Lou Dobbs Show Aired June 28, 2006 - 18:00 ET
DOBBS: Tonight, elected officials at all levels of
government are giving away critical American assets. We have two reports
tonight.
Bill
Tucker on a so-called free trade agreement that will literally turn over our
seaports to foreign owners. Sean Callebs reports tonight from the Gulf Coast on
plans to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina using thousands of foreign workers.
We
begin with Bill Tucker on the U.S.-Oman free trade agreement -- Bill.
BILL
TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, the U.S. free trade agreement with Oman is
about to go before Congress for approval. Congress should look twice, though,
before giving it their traditional rubberstamp of approval.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER (voice-over): The United States is on the verge of
further compromising its port security in the name of free trade. All for Oman,
a small Middle Eastern country which shares borders with Yemen, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates.
LORI
WALLACH, PUBLIC CITIZEN: Under the Oman free trade agreement, foreign port
operators would have a right, an absolute trade agreement right, to establish
operations, to acquire, to operate, to run port facilities within the U.S.
TUCKER: Specifically, the agreement allows for "landside
aspects of port activities, including operation and maintenance of docks;
loading and unloading of vessels directly to or from land; marine cargo
handling; operation and maintenance of piers; ship cleaning; stevedoring;
transfer of cargo between vessels and trucks, trains, pipelines, and wharves;
plus waterfront terminal operations."
The
free trade agreement with Oman expected to come up on the Senate floor
Thursday.
SEN.
BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: Listen, this is an outrage. But it's one more
symptom of trade agreement that sell away this country's interests. We have
seen it time and time again. And what could happen here is a circumstance where
the United Arab Emirates simply buys a company in Oman, and all of a sudden
they're managing America's docks and ports.
TUCKER: Few in Congress were aware this provision even
existed. It's prompted Congressman Sherrod Brown to renew his call for a
national security study on all free trade agreements before they're agreed on.
REP.
SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: This is again a perfect example of why before we
negotiate the trade agreement we need to know what in fact its national
security implications are for the United States of America. I hope that
Congress learns its lesson.
TUCKER: But there is another free trade agreement just like
Oman's waiting in the wings. The free trade agreement with Peru, already approved
Wednesday by the Peruvian legislature. Once approved by Congress, there is
little recourse in these agreements.
TUCKER: That's because under the terms of the
agreement, Congress cannot restrict any agreed upon commercial activity. If it
does or tries, those foreign companies can sue the United States of America,
drag it before an international tribunal, and demand payment from U.S.
taxpayers for being denied their commercial rights, Lou, under the free trade
agreement that Congress approved.
DOBBS:
And under the terms of the World Trade Organization, further -- a simple
giveaway of our national sovereignty. This is -- it's almost impossible to
express the ignorance being displayed by the United States Congress. Forget the
administration's pursuing these free trade policies, but to abrogate their
constitutional responsibilities through fast track authority and not to
understand these free trade agreements and the impact, it's unconscionable.
Bill
Tucker, thank you very much.
A
Gulf Coast mayor has come up with a unique plan to rebuild his city after
Hurricane Katrina. He wants now almost a year after Katrina to bring in
thousands of Chinese workers to do the job.
Sean
Callebs reports from D'Iberville, Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN
CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take a drive through the small coastal
town of D'Iberville 10 months after Katrina. Almost no new housing
construction, and few, if any, new jobs.
In an
effort breathe new life into the community, town leaders want two huge Chinese
companies to bring thousands of workers here to start rebuilding.
MAYOR
RUSTY QUAVE, D'IBERVILLE, MISSISSIPPI: We can't afford to sit here and wait and
wait on houses and wait on economic development to start. Private enterprise has
ran this country from the beginning. Private enterprise money will rebuild
these communities.
CALLEBS: For eight months, D'Iberville has been in quiet
discussions with a Chinese contractor. So, how many workers do they want to
bring to this town of about 5,000?
NINGSHENG CHEN, TANGDU INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISES (through
translator): According to the local officials, and we're talking about probably
around 2,000 to 3,000 people.
CALLEBS: It's big topic at Cafe New Orleans, one of the few
restaurants still open. Joe Dawson lays hardwood flooring and was shocked at
the idea.
JOE
DAWSON, CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: I just say it is wrong. I absolutely say it's
wrong. They do not need the workers. There is plenty of people here that can do
the work.
CALLEBS:
The mayor says the "help wanted" sign has been out for months. But he
says big contractors claim they're too busy to rebuild the town's water and
sewer systems and 4,000 homes that need to be constructed. Rusty Quave says his
town is hurting.
(on
camera): So you make no apologies for what you're doing?
QUAVE: No. I don't feel guilty at all. I didn't go out and
approach these people and say, "Hey, I need your help."
CALLEBS (voice-over): Chinese and D'Iberville officials say
they aren't talking about illegal workers but admit the biggest obstacle is
obtaining visas for some 3,000 Chinese laborers to set up shop in Mississippi.
The
mayor says it's a long shot.
QUAVE: And this might not ever happen. But it's somebody that
came to the table and put out a plan and said, hey, would you be interested in
looking at it?
(END
VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Lou, and a lot of big questions still unanswered. Not the least of which, where would 3,000 Chinese workers stay in a community with virtually no housing? And what would happen to them once the job was done? The town says they would go back home.
And
also, the Chinese contractor who pitched this idea to D'Iberville has actually
approached a number of Gulf Coast towns. So far, Lou, this is the only city that
is biting.
DOBBS: It is a remarkable story, Sean, that you're bringing
us tonight. The idea that 10 months after Katrina neither the federal
government, the state government of Mississippi, this community has created the
energy, the vigor, the entrepreneurship to deal with this issue is
mind-boggling.
CALLEBS: And you hear that from the mayor. He says he has
virtually pleaded with contractors in this area, come to this community of
about -- it was 8,500 people, now 5,000. Instead of people living in tents,
let's get these homes build up. But if you look across the way, Biloxi, with
all its casinos, those are the towns that are drawing the big contractors.
DOBBS: Sean, it -- it's a shame. I remember one of my
favorite expressions that was always associated with this country, "can
do," and it applied to every phase of human activity. But particularly
rebuilding in a disaster. This is a shame.