mr. speaker , i rise to support house joint resolution 27 to withdraw the united states from the world trade organization . 
the wto is not about free trade or fair trade . 
it is about corporate power . 
wto rules allow america 's labor , environmental and public interest laws to be challenged by multinational corporations seeking profits and power . 
other countries have also seen their domestic laws challenged in order to expand corporate power . 
the wto sacrifices the rights of workers , the protection of the environment and the health and safety of working families . 
wto rules support corporations to move their operations from one country to another in search of the cheapest labor and the least government regulation . 
if a country enacts a minimum wage law , a corporation that does not want to pay a decent wage can simply move its factory to another country . 
if workers in that country organize a labor union , the corporation can move the factory to a third country . 
many corporations prefer to operate in countries such as the people 's republic of china , which outlaw independent labor organizations . 
the wto has no restrictions on sweatshops , child labor , prison labor or slave labor . 
wto rules promote investment opportunities for multinational corporations without regard to their impact on workers , the environment or the public interest . 
countries ' labor , health and environmental laws can be challenged if they have a side effect of restricting trade . 
in the 10 years since the wto was established , a wide variety of u.s. and foreign laws have been challenged . 
with only two exceptions , every health , food safety and environmental law challenged at the wto has been ruled illegal . 
meanwhile , multinational pharmaceutical companies have used wto intellectual property rules to deny poor countries the right to provide live-saving medicine to people with terrible diseases like hiv and aids . 
they tried it with brazil . 
the world protest against the attempt to keep brazil from using generic drugs to save lives , prevent hiv and aids was fought off because of the protest , and they had to back down . 
but look what they did in south africa . 
i wish i had time to tell my colleagues about it . 
in 42 out of the 48 completed cases brought against the united states , the wto has labeled u.s. laws illegal . 
u.s. laws ruled illegal by wto include tax laws , anti-dumping laws , sea turtle protections and clean air rules . 
and when the wto ruled in favor of the united states in a case on bananas , it was to benefit who ? 
a large corporation , chiquita , that has now driven grenada and some of these small countries into poverty . 
we do not produce any bananas here in the united states . 
we protected chiquita , who mistreats its workers in central america , and we put small caribbean farmers out of work . 
mr. speaker , after the wto rules a country 's laws illegal , the wto authorizes economic sanctions that cost the country millions of dollars . 
these sanctions put small businesses out of business and workers out of work . 
history has proven that the wto does not prevent trade wars . 
it authorizes trade wars . 
the wto puts profits of the world 's wealthiest and most powerful corporations ahead of the health , safety and welfare and well-being of working families . 
i urge my colleagues to support the wto withdrawal resolution . 
it 's time to stop the global expansion of corporate power and put working families first . 
