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Action Alert Update: Support Amendm



ACTION ALERT UPDATE

TELL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO DEFEND THE MASSACHUSETTS BURMA LAW FROM THE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

September 24, 1997

According to Bill Goold, aide to Rep. Bernie Sanders, the amendment in
support of the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law will not be
moved and voted on until Congress reconvenes tomorrow, Thursday, September
24 at 10am. 

You still have time to contact your Member of Congress first thing on
Thursday morning. 

I will be out of the office and away from my email until Sunday night. So
call your Member of Congress again on the afternoon or on Friday to find
out whether the amendment passed.

BACKGROUND

Six Members of Congress (Sanders, Rohrabacher, Stearns, Defazio, Ney, Brown
and Dellums) plan to move an amendment to Commerce-State-Justice
Appropriations Bill that would help defend state and local laws from the
World Trade Organization.

The amendment cuts $1 million from the US Commerce Department budget. The
amendment reallocates the $1 million to the US Trade Representative's
office (USTR) "for the express purpose of better equipping [the USTR] to
identify and defend current national, state, local, tribal, territorial or
DC laws adversely affected by international trade and investment agreements." 

Already, the USTR has stood idle while the World Trade Organization has
successfully pressured the US to weaken its Clean Air Rules and its Dolphin
Protection Laws.

This amendment puts additional explicit pressure on the USTR to defend the
Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law from the challenge by the
European Commission and the Japanese government at the World Trade
Organization. Modeled on a previous South Africa anti-apartheid law, the
Massachusetts Burma law effectively bars state agencies from buying goods
or services from companies that do business in Burma.

If this amendment is successfully attached to the Appropriations bill in
the House of Representatives, the action will move to the Senate where, it
is hoped, a similar amendment will be moved.

WHAT TO DO

1. Call your US Representative at (888) 723-5246 (toll-free) or (202)
224-3121. 
[If you are a statewide coordinator, feel free to contact your entire state
House delegation. If you're a student from out-of-state, consider calling
on your Member of Congress for your home district as well.]

2. Ask for the Congressional aide responsible for trade and/or foreign policy

3. Ask the aide to ensure that the Member supports the Sanders-Rohrabacher
amendment to the Commerce-State-Justice Appropriations Bill (HR2267)

4. Explain that the bill transfers $1 million to the office of the US Trade
Representative to identify and defend state and local laws threatened by
the World Trade Organization

5. Explain that you specifically wish to defend state and local Burma
selective purchasing laws, such as the Massachusetts Burma law, from
pressure from the World Trade Organization

6. Be prepared to give your name, address and phone number proving that you
live in the Congressman's or Congresswoman's district

And most importantly?

7. Even if you obtain a commitment of support, call EVERY DAY to discover
if the amendment came to a vote that day and how the Representative voted
on it

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

Email me and let me know how your Members of Congress responded.  I will
report back on the results of the vote and what we can do next.

Simon Billenness
* for the New England Burma Roundtable *
Franklin Research & Development
711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-6655 x 225
(617) 482 6179 fax
sbillenness@xxxxxxxx
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