07/26/05 Convince me of CAFTA-DR

With the House of Representatives expected to vote on ratifying the Central American Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement some time this week, there is a lot of pressure on House members from both sides of the issue. Some Representatives are already saying "yes" to C.A.F.T.A.-D.R., some are against the trade deal, and others still have not officially made a position. As of late last week, Oregon Representative Greg Walden was in the "officially had no position" category. And that's because much of his state and district had both their praises and concerns about C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. So Walden brought together Oregon agriculture representatives, U.S.D.A. Secretary Mike Johanns, and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. The purpose of the phone conference was two fold & for Walden to take the arguments from all sides to formulate his opinions and his vote, and to make a direct link between Oregon's farm interests and U.S. trade and ag officials. And Oregon farm representatives weren't afraid to speak up. Onion farmer June Hartley expressed the fears of several growers that C.A.F.T.A.-.D.R. might have the same adverse affects they experienced under the North American Free Trade Agreement. HARTLEY: Mark and I have been farming for fifty six years. And when N.A.F.T.A. went into effect, we had an all around farm which included a 2,000 year-round feed lot, and we lost that the first year. And we're down now to where there are so few crops that we can grow, and how can we be assured that this won't happen to us in a greater extent. But others like Barry Bashue of the Oregon Farm Bureau say discussions between C.A.F.T.A. nations and members of the produce industry indicate some renewed business for growers and processors of many Oregon fruits and vegetables. BASHUE: The potato industry, frozen vegetables and frozen potatoes, use to belong to the Northwest, was taken by Canada, when they signed a free trade agreement with Costa Rica. He met with three of the four largest buyers of those products last week and they have agreed to sign contracts to return business to the Northwest immediately upon the C.A.F.T.A. agreement. Needless to say, Johanns, Portman, and their respective agencies support C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. and brought their arguments why the trade deal would benefit Oregon's agriculture. Among the points made by Johanns& JOHANNS: Relative to Oregon, more than $700 million dollars in cash farm receipts come from exports, so you've got a $700 million dollar enterprise when we speak about exports and the importance of markets for your products.