mr. speaker , i rise in support of h.r. 4340 , the `` united states-bahrain free trade agreement implementation act. '' in spite of my support , i do have some concerns .  for example , as in all other u.s. free trade agreements ( fta 's ) the text of the u.s.-bahrain free trade agreement requires only that the two countries enforce their own labor laws .  it is my understanding that in 2002 , bahrain completed a major revision to its own labor laws to comply with internationally-recognized standards and to ensure that working people in its country share fully in the benefits of globalization .  however , six provisions of bahrain 's law , as currently written , raise concerns with regard to basic international labor standards .  these six provisions have been identified by the u.s. department of state and the international labor organization ( ilo ) .  these concerns force me to believe that the workers ' rights provisions in the bahrain fta are somewhat weak .  in contrast to the u.s.-jordan fta , the bahrain agreement contains only one enforceable provision on workers ' rights which is an obligation to enforce domestic labor laws .  while the labor chapter also contains a commitment to uphold the ilo core workers ' rights and not to weaken labor laws , these provisions are explicitly excluded from coverage under the dispute settlement chapter , rendering them essentially useless from a practical standpoint .  to put it bluntly , under this agreement , a country could ban unions , set the minimum age for employment at ten years old , and reinstate slave labor .  while i believe this will not happen , the fact that it could raises concerns .  before closing , let me note that i appreciate the efforts made to negotiate a commitment from the bahraini government to bring its labor laws up to ilo standards in the near future , and i hope that this agreement is honored .  i must also note that a commitment to improve labor laws in the future is not an adequate substitute for having decent labor laws in place , especially when the labor provisions in the agreement raises concerns .  to this end , i am pleased to note that i have been promised a letter from the bahrain government expressing the fact that child labor will not be an issue and that such labor will not be used as a result of this agreement .  unfortunately , if the promise is not honored , there is no recourse that can take in the context of the fta itself , other than to engage in consultations .  while i overall support free trade agreements , i strongly believe that we need to make sure that we are not setting ourselves up for a pit fall .  