NEWS - States ask court to restore

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Subject: NEWS - States ask court to restore trade-restriction law

States ask court to restore trade-restriction law

              BILL SIMMONS
              ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

              Arkansas is among 14 states asking the U.S. Supreme Court
to
              restore a Massachusetts law that would restrict the
business that
              Massachusetts state agencies may do with individuals and
firms
              that do business with Burma.
                  In the opinion of Attorney General Mark Pryor,
Arkansas has two
              interests in joining a friend of the court brief
supporting restoration
              of the law involved in this case, Pryor spokesman Michael
Teague
              said Wednesday.
                  One is that it would be better for states to know
whether it will be
              legal for them to take the sort of action Massachusetts
took in
              enacting its law. If it's not legal, states would know not
to waste
              time doing it, Teague said.
                  The other is that this is an attempt to protect the
state's rights
              from federal encroachment, Teague said.
                  In 1996, Massachusetts enacted the Massachusetts Burma
Law
              requiring state officials to maintain a "restricted
purchase list" of
              firms engaged in business with Burma. Being on the list
means the
              firm's ability to sell goods and servants to Massachusetts
is limited.
                  The Massachusetts law was challenged in a federal
court lawsuit
              filed against the state by the National Foreign Trade
Council, which
              represents about 600 U.S. corporations. The case has been
joined
              by numerous business, labor and human rights organizations
as
              friends of the court.
                  The district court struck down the law, and the 1st
U.S. Circuit
              Court of Appeals upheld the district court's finding that
              Massachusetts' action interferes with the foreign affairs
power of
              the federal government. The appeals court also found that
the state
              law violates the Foreign Commerce Clause and the Supremacy
              Clause because it pre-empted federal sanctions against
Burma.
                  The position Arkansas is taking in the case holds that
states fear
              that they'll be forced to trade with countries run by
brutal regimes if
              the high court upholds the decision striking down the
              Massachusetts law. Burma's military dictatorship has been
              accused of drug trafficking, torture and using slave
labor.
                  Dozens of states, counties and municipalities have
imposed
              sanctions on companies that deal with repressive
governments in
              Nigeria, China, Cuba or Burma. Others forbid pension funds
from
              investing in companies in Northern Ireland that
discriminate on the
              basis of religion. There has been no cost to Arkansas for
its
              involvement in the case other than the time it took a
state-paid
              attorney on Pryor's staff to read the brief and the time
it took to
              discuss the matter within the attorney general's office,
Teague
              said.
                  The government of Burma now calls the nation by the
name
              Myanmar.
                  
              Information for this article was contributed by The
Associated
              Press.
                  

              This article was published on Thursday, October 21, 1999