<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>memorializing the President and Congress to replace the Fast Track Trade Authority <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>system.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>WHEREAS, democratic, accountable governance in the states generally, and specifically <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>the authority granted to the legislative branch by Minnesota's Constitution, is being undermined <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>by international commercial and trade rules enforced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>and established by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and is further threatened <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>by similar provisions in an array of pending trade agreements; and  <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>WHEREAS, today's "trade" agreements have impacts which extend significantly beyond <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>the bounds of traditional trade matters such as tariffs and quotas; instead, they grant foreign <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>investors and service providers certain rights and privileges regarding acquisition of land and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>facilities and regarding operations within a state's territory, subject state laws to challenge as <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>"nontariff barriers to trade" in the binding dispute resolution bodies that accompany the pacts, and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>place limits on the future policy options of state legislatures; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>WHEREAS, NAFTA and other United States free trade agreements grant foreign firms <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>new rights and privileges for operating within a state that exceed those granted to United States <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>businesses under state and federal law; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>WHEREAS, NAFTA already has generated "regulatory takings" cases against state and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>local land use decisions, state environmental and public health policies, adverse state court rulings, <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>and state and local contracts that would not have been possible in United States courts; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>WHEREAS, when states are bound to comply with government procurement provisions <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.22"></a><var>1.22</var>contained in trade agreements, common economic development and environmental policies such <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>as buy-local laws, prevailing wage laws, policies to prevent offshoring of state jobs, and recycled <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>content laws could be subject to challenge as violating the obligations in the trade agreements; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>WHEREAS, recent trade agreements curtail state regulatory authority by placing <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>constraints on future policy options; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>WHEREAS, the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) could undermine <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>state efforts to expand health care coverage and rein in health care costs, and places constraints <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>on state and local land use planning and gambling policy; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>WHEREAS, new GATS negotiations could impose additional constraints on state <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>regulation of energy, higher education, professional licensing, and more; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>WHEREAS, despite the indisputable fact that international trade agreements have a <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>far-reaching impact on state and local laws, federal government trade negotiators have failed to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>respect states' rights to prior informed consent before binding states to conform state law and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>authority to trade agreement requirements, and have refused even to copy state legislatures on key <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>correspondence; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>WHEREAS, the current encroachment on state regulatory authority by international <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>commercial and trade agreements has occurred in no small part because United States trade policy <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>is being formulated and implemented under the Fast Track Trade Authority procedure; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>WHEREAS, Fast Track eliminates vital checks and balances established in the United States <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>Constitution by broadly delegating to the executive branch exclusive constitutional authority of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>Congress to set the terms of trade, such that the executive branch is empowered to negotiate <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>broad-ranging trade agreements and to sign them before Congress votes on the agreements; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>WHEREAS, the ability of the executive branch to sign trade agreements prior to Congress' <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>vote of approval means that executive branch negotiators are able to ignore congressional <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>negotiating objectives or states' demands, and that neither Congress nor the state has any means to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>enforce any decision regarding what provisions must be contained in every United States trade <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>agreement and what provisions may not be included in any United States trade agreement; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>WHEREAS, federal trade negotiators have ignored and disrespected states' demands <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>regarding whether or not states agree to be bound to certain nontariff trade agreement provisions; <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.30"></a><var>2.30</var>WHEREAS, Fast Track also circumvents normal congressional review and amendment <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.31"></a><var>2.31</var>committee procedures, limits debate to 20 hours total, and forbids any floor amendments to the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.32"></a><var>2.32</var>implementing legislation that is presented to Congress to conform hundreds of United States laws <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.1"></a><var>3.1</var>to trade agreement obligations and to incorporate the actual trade agreement itself into United <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.2"></a><var>3.2</var>States federal law which preempts state law; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.3"></a><var>3.3</var>WHEREAS, Fast Track Trade Authority is not necessary for negotiating trade agreements, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.4"></a><var>3.4</var>as demonstrated by the existence of scores of trade agreements, including major pacts such as <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.5"></a><var>3.5</var>the agreements administered by the World Trade Organization, implemented in the past 30 years <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.6"></a><var>3.6</var>without the use of Fast Track Trade Authority; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.7"></a><var>3.7</var>WHEREAS, Fast Track was established in 1974 by President Richard Nixon when trade <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.8"></a><var>3.8</var>agreements were limited to traditional matters such as tariffs and quotas and is now woefully <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.9"></a><var>3.9</var>outdated and inappropriate given the diverse range of nontrade issues now included in "trade" <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.10"></a><var>3.10</var>agreements that broadly affect federal and state nontrade regulatory authority; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.11"></a><var>3.11</var>WHEREAS, the current grant of Fast Track Trade Authority expires in July 2007; NOW, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.12"></a><var>3.12</var>THEREFORE,<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.13"></a><var>3.13</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota  that it respectfully requests <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.14"></a><var>3.14</var>that the United States Congress create a replacement for the outdated Fast Track Trade Authority <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.15"></a><var>3.15</var>system so that United States trade agreements are developed and implemented using a more <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.16"></a><var>3.16</var>democratic, inclusive mechanism that enshrines the principles of federalism and state sovereignty.<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.17"></a><var>3.17</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this new process for developing and implementing <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.18"></a><var>3.18</var>trade agreements include an explicit mechanism for ensuring the prior informed consent of state <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.19"></a><var>3.19</var>legislatures before states are bound to the nontariff terms of any trade agreement that affects <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.20"></a><var>3.20</var>state regulatory authority, and to ensure that the United States trade representative respects the <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.21"></a><var>3.21</var>decisions made by the states.<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.22"></a><var>3.22</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the  State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.23"></a><var>3.23</var>directed to prepare copies of this  memorial and transmit them to the President of  the United States, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.24"></a><var>3.24</var>the United States trade representative, the President of the  United States Senate, the Speaker of <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.25"></a><var>3.25</var>the United  States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and  Representatives in <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.26"></a><var>3.26</var>Congress.<br />
         		
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