CAFTA Voting Record for Representatives

Religious Leaders Host Prayer Breakfast on CAFTA with Members of Congress

Adapted from an article written by Susan Saudek, Board Member, Share Foundation. Thanks to Jessica Walker Beaumont, American Friends Service Committee, for photos.

July 21, 2005

Today I attended a prayer breakfast to reflect on trade justice organized by a coalition of faith based organizations (see list below) as part of the The Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment. Joining in hosting the event were two key congressional CAFTA opponents Representatives Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Walter B. Jones (R-NC).

An impressive crowd of about 50 people were there to listen to the congressmen and representatives of diverse faiths speak out for social justice and CAFTA.

We sat around a large circular table adorned with a paper chain of biblical quotes demanding attention to justice for the poor.

Each speaker walked us through a scripture reflection followed by lighting a candle for justice. At the end of each presentation the leader intoned: We dare to pray, and we responded Creator, let the rules be changed, for we long to see trade bring justice to the poor. At the conclusion of the morning we were invited to break, in unison, the chains of oppression symbolized by the paper chains in front of us.

Spirits and energy were high. It was such a great feeling to be in a room filled with other people who shared the same strong outrage at this treaty’s biased slant towards large business interests at the expense of the well being of the small farmer, the day laborer the factory worker and most of all poor uneducated women.

We left the room inspired and headed for the Hill to make visits to key congressmen.

What follows is a very brief and loose record of what each speaker said.

Reverend John L. McCullough: As the Executive Director of Church World Service, a cooperative humanitarian ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations, I welcome you to this prayer breakfast to reflect on trade justice. This [prayer breakfast] is the culmination of a national call to reflect on trade justice and CAFTA. The different traditions represented here today are united by our faith and our concern that global trade policies and agreements serve the common good and are fair for all concerned. International trade in itself has the potential to be a source of benefit for humanity. But CAFTA is not the kind of trade agreement that will serve most people either in the United States or Central America .

Congressman Sherrod Brown : I am a Lutheran. This treaty goes against the tenants of my faith. We are told that this treaty is written in support of the people of Central America , but believe me, it is written for the powerful. So it is important for people of faith to speak out. No one speaks more effectively for the poor of Central America and the Untied States than people of faith.

Congressman Walter Jones : I am a Catholic by conversion. In my state of North Carolina we have lost 200,000 jobs since the passage of NAFTA. I know that if a worker loses his or her job it is very difficult to find another job with the same pay and benefits. This trade agreement, CAFTA, is flawed, flawed, flawed! What we are doing with this CAFTA is creating more inequality. There will not be peace in this world without equality. Truth and justice must prevail!

Bishop David Zywiec from Nicaragua . I am a Catholic with Chicago roots. I quote Acts 2, 42-47. This passage speaks to me of the ideal of how the community lived. I feel very strongly that we should look for solidarity between nations and not the favoritism of a few. Economic development must have the ‘human’ at its center and it should be sustainable. I see student exchanges as a model for peace. We have to ask ourselves how this agreement helps development. Edgar Palacios, Salvadoran:I am a Baptist minister and I quote John 18:33-38. Jesus ends saying to Pilate “I was born and came into the world for this one purposes, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.” “And what is truth?” Pilate asks. Our representatives in Congress must ask themselves if they are in the world of truth or shadows. CAFTA promotes death, hunger, unemployment, the destruction of small businesses. Something that promotes so much death cannot be the truth.

Mary Lord , American Friends Service Committee : I am a Quaker. I quote Luke 16: 19-31, the parable of Lazarus. It is a parable of indifference to poverty and the consequences. This trade agreement is indifferent to the lives of the poor. Our faith calls us to action.

Rabbi Sidney Schwarz : Board member of the American Jewish World Service. I recall a recent delegation of young students I led to work in the rural town of Ciudad Romero in El Salvador . The trip was transforming. The legacy of Romero became alive to us as we worked alongside the struggling poor farmers. Romero dared to confront authority on behalf of the poor. So can we. As Congress debates CAFTA they will weigh the advantages of a trade agreement in terms of economic growth. What they will not hear is the voice of the poor farmers that we heard. The reality is the rich can lobby but the poor have no voice. The bible teaches us “you shall not turn away”. Our faith teaches us that we cannot turn away if someone else is hurt. So it is our duty to stand firm. We are here to be voices for justice. I constantly think about Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s statement, “In a free society some are guilty, but all are responsible.”

Rev. Roger Verley : I am a Presbyterian from the National Capital Presbytery and strongly connected to the cause of the small farmer through the Presbyterian Rural Ministry Network. I want to draw attention to the difference between free and fair trade. This agreement may speak to a free market but it ignores fairness. To achieve fairness we must first have reconciliation and understanding. CAFTA must be sent back to the drawing board and we must insert FAIR for FREE.

Rev. Villalta Loaiza from Costa Rica : I would like to quote Mathew 25, 31-40. I was invited by the President of Costa Rica to serve on a panel of 5 to review CAFTA and identify ways it would affect the poor. Actually Costa Rica is the Central American country that has most reflected on CAFTA. We have held more than 400 community forums to explain what is in the agreement. In my analysis small and medium sized farmers will not be protected. I am most concerned about the future costs of medicines under this agreement. I am concerned about patents and the environment. Paraphrasing Pope John Paul II, this agreement will be an instrument of “savage capitalism”. In my view we need more time to study just what will make a good trade agreement. I think of the European Union’s process in developing their agreements as a model.

I am again reminded of Oscar Romero’s words, "Christian faith does not separate us from the world, but immerses us in it.” In other words, Romero drew the basic principle that the Church's mission on earth is a mission to serve the world. Since Romero's archdiocese was in the world, and that world was a world of the poor, it had to opt for the poor.

Prayer Breakfast Sponsors included: the American Friends Service Committee, Center of Concern, Church World Service, Columban Missionaries Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation Office, Lutheran World Relief, Maryknoll Office for Global Concern s, NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico, SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today , Sisters of Notre Dame, United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and Washington Office Presbyterian Church (USA), Witness for Peace.