Rangel Joins Levin, Mcdermott and Waxman to Commemorate May 10 Agreement on Trade
Press Release
Congressman Charles B. Rangel today joined Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the "May 10 Agreement" on trade. The Agreement ensured strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards in U.S. free trade agreements, and struck a balance between incentivizing innovation and providing access to affordable medicines in developing countries.
Said Rangel: "The May 10 Agreement was the culmination of a movement to have not just free trade, but fair trade. It helps countries; more importantly, it helps people. We started with a goal of bringing fairness and compassion to trade. With this Agreement, we made progress."
When Democrats retook the House majority in 2007, the Bush Administration finally acquiesced to demands made by Rangel, who served as Ways and Means Committee Chairman, for a trade policy that protects the environment and provides greater access to healthcare for citizens in developing countries. The four free trade agreements that had already been concluded by the Bush Administration were reopened and renegotiated to make these fundamental changes.
A briefing was held in a Ways and means Subcommittee hearing to mark the five-year anniversary. Speaking at the event as panelists were Stephanie Burgos, Senior Policy Advisor for Oxfam America, Thea Lee, Deputy Chief of Staff for AFL-CIO, Leah L. Summers, Esq., Vice President of International Affairs at Mylan Inc., and Sascha Von Bismarck, Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency
Added Rangel: "The May 10 Agreement joined American moral values and trade policy. By promoting more efficient trade while expanding access to healthcare in developing nations, it let the world know that the American government is not at the service of Wall Street."
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