Washington, DC, Jul 14, 2005 - Western North Carolina Representative Charles Taylor made the following statement today concerning the upcoming vote in the United States House of Representatives on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA):

"In 1994 when President Clinton was urging me to vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he signed into law when it was passed by the then democratic majority, I refused to support it and tried to get the bill, if passed, spread over some 10 to 15 years in order to give our region an opportunity to transition. Later when the China free trade votes were pushed I voted no because China only has 4% of its manufacturing costs in labor, and I knew it would do even more damage to our region and jobs. I have voted against all of these trade pacts and will vote against CAFTA because although CAFTA isn't as bad as NAFTA it still, like all the trade pacts, fails to provide and monitor a system of symbiotic trade relations, i.e. guaranteed equal trade rather than just dumping goods, either legally or illegally, on our businesses in this country. While we voted and worked against NAFTA 10 years ago when it was passed, we have moved forward in 3 main areas. One is working with our universities, community colleges and K-12 education system to make our region a leader in infrastructure for technology to bring technology related employment to WNC. Second we have worked to create for small business a procedure for equal trade in the future. And third we have worked to keep those manufacturing jobs that we still have in WNC, as well as bring in more dollars for building small business in our region. Both of the last 2 administrations are to be commended on various initiatives they brought to our country. But in trade both have failed to realize that our country has to be given an equal chance and equal trade. And dumping is not what I consider to be fair and free trade."