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URGENT NEWS - District Court Rules
- Subject: URGENT NEWS - District Court Rules
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 21:16:00
Subject: URGENT NEWS - District Court Rules in Favor of National Foreign
Trade Council;
To: burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx
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NOTE: Does anyone care to send letters to the NFTC ?? Ask them what
does companies have preference over people. Why are companies trying to
steer foreign policy? Company business in any country has NOTHING to do
with Foreign Policy. The NFTC is steeping on our rights as citizens of
the USA.
District Court Rules in Favor of National Foreign Trade Council; Finds
Massachusetts Burma Law Unconstitutional
PRNewswire
04-NOV-98
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/-- The National
Foreign Trade Council, Inc. issued the following press
release today: The United States District Court for the
District of Massachusetts today ruled the Massachusetts
Burma Law unconstitutional on the grounds that the statute
violates the federal government's power to regulate foreign
affairs.
The ruling in National Foreign Trade Council v. Baker,
stated that "...the court finds that the Massachusetts Burma
Law impermissibly infringes on the federal government's
power to regulate foreign affairs... State interests, no
matter
how noble, do not trump the federal government's exclusive
foreign affairs power."
"Chief Judge Tauro's ruling rests on clear constitutional
grounds, and should significantly deter states and cities
from
imposing their own foreign policy sanctions," said Frank
Kittredge, President of the National Foreign Trade Council,
the suit's plaintiff.
"The constitutional problems created by the Massachusetts
Burma Law are serious, and the proliferation of similar laws
in states and cities throughout the country creates a
problem
not only for business, but for the ability of the United
States
to conduct a coherent foreign policy," Kittredge continued.
"We share concerns over reported human rights abuses in
Burma, however, our system of government was not
designed to allow the fifty states and hundreds of
municipalities to conduct their own individual foreign
policies."
The NFTC has, for most of this century, represented the
interests of hundreds of companies in free international
trade. NFTC filed the Massachusetts case on behalf of its
580 members because the law establishes a "restricted
purchase list" which currently includes over 30 of the
NFTC's
member companies-- preventing these companies from
competing on an equal basis for contracts with
Massachusetts state agencies unless these companies
cease doing business in Burma.