June 24, 2020 Rep. Richard Neal Chair, House Ways & Means Committee 2309 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC Rep. Kevin Brady Ranking Member, House Ways & Means Committee 1011 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC RE: Catholic Organizations Statement for the Record for June 17 Hearing on “The 2020 Trade Policy Agenda” Dear Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Brady, and Members of the House Ways & Means Committee: As Catholic organizations and religious bodies with constituencies in the United States, and close partners and mission representatives serving in many regions around the world, we appreciate the opportunity to submit a statement for today’s hearing. Now is the time for profound change in global trade rules that prioritize the planet, and human rights and dignity over profit. We share a vision and understanding that trade and development can help lift communities out of poverty when done right. However, we have witnessed far too often how trade agreements have failed to distribute these gains proportionately and fairly, exacerbating economic inequality and increasing forced migration and hunger. The current trade model puts good paying jobs, nutritious food, and the right to live in a safe and healthy environment out of reach for people on the margins- especially for low-wealth communities, people of color, and ethnic minorities in the United States and in developing countries with whom the U.S. has trading relationships. Trade has similarly made it more difficult to access clean water, adequate housing, education and health care for these populations. We are witnessing how these consequences are hindering the response of developing countries to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. We urge the Trump Administration and Congress to implement a new economic model for trade that protects the health and dignity of the planet and the people who inhabit it. We urge you to incorporate these six principles: Protect Human Rights and the Earth over Corporate Rights We live in a time of deep inequality in the U.S. and around the globe driven in part by trade policy. Past trade agreements have enabled companies to pollute land, water and air in low-wealth communities and communities of color in the United States and around the world. Pope Francis reminds us that these issues are interrelated and need a common solution. “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” (Laudato Si 139) Our faith tradition teaches that the economy should serve the people, particularly those in poverty, as well as protect and preserve creation for future generations. In his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end…Economic activity cannot solve all social problems through the simple application of commercial logic. This needs to be directed towards the pursuit of the common good” (CV 36 - emphasis in original document).

Policies, like the Investor State Dispute System (ISDS), that prioritize corporate interests over the protection of worker safety, human rights and health, and environmental standards do not belong in trade agreements. We call for a complete elimination of ISDS, and all policies that give unjust advantage to corporations to avoid responsibility.

As countries grapple with economic decline due to the COVID-19 stay at home orders, ISDS payments and the legal expenses associated with new and existing cases hinder the financial resources available for countries to respond to the economic and health crisis. Center the Voices of People Catholic social teaching informs us that we have a responsibility to participate in politics out of a concern and commitment to the good of the community. This responsibility to participate means each person also has a fundamental right to participate, and thus must be equipped with the resources and opportunities needed to do so. Human dignity demands transparency and the right of people to participate in decisions. It is critical for people to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives. The current trade policy structure prioritizes the voices of the wealthy and well connected behind closed doors. We urge you to instead ensure that trade agreements are created with full democratic accountability and citizen participation in the light of day both in the United States and within the countries that the U.S. is engaging with in trade negotiations. Promote the Dignity of Work Biblical scripture teaches us that all people are made in the image of God and so possess an equal and inalienable worth. Because of this essential dignity, each person has a right to what is needed to allow them to live to their full potential, such as employment that respects human rights, labor laws, and provides a living wage. Saint John Paul II in his encyclical, Laborem Exercens, restates long standing Catholic social teaching dating back to Pope Leo XIII’s foundational work in Rerum Novarum in the late 1800s. “Workers’ rights”, said Saint John Paul II in Laborem Exercens, “cannot be doomed to be the mere result of economic systems aimed at maximum profits. The thing that must shape the whole economy is respect for workers’ rights within each country and through the world’s economy.”

Strong and clear labor standards with swift and certain enforcement tools should be requisite in any trade agreement. Trade rules should enhance workers’ rights in the U.S. and abroad by supporting stable jobs with good wages. Rules must guarantee workers’ freedom to organize, join unions, and negotiate with their employers in accordance with internationally agreed worker standards, including those of the International Labor Organization (ILO). By improving standards abroad, it will also benefit workers in the United States, making it more difficult for corporations seeking lower standards and wages to outsource jobs. It is difficult for manufacturing workers to find jobs that pay anything equivalent to what they were previously making. The USMCA’s recent changes to labor standards are encouraging. Enforcement must continue in this and all future agreements.

As factories in industries considered essential continue to operate during COVID-19, strong and enforceable labor standards are just as essential to protect workers. Uphold Environmental Protections as Faithful Stewards of the Earth The Church calls us to protect God’s creation. As stated by Pope Francis in Laudato Si, “Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” (LS 21)

We continue to witness how climate change disproportionately falls hardest on those with the least, especially in developing countries and small island nations. The consequences of climate change are becoming more destructive and frequent. We cannot afford to implement trade agreements that will continue to contribute to climate change and its devastating effects.

Trade agreements must include strong, binding, and enforceable environmental standards in addition to a commitment to curb climate change. They must prioritize long-term ecological sustainability. Examples of such standards include incorporation of the Paris Agreement commitments and climate duties on goods whose production have high carbon emissions. Protect Human Health Biblical scripture and Church teaching roots firmly our call to care for and heal the sick. Catholic social teaching holds that access to healthcare is a fundamental human right. In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed, “Justice requires guaranteed universal access to healthcare.” This mandate takes on even more significance amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The Church locates intellectual property rights within a broad framework of health. Current rules related to intellectual property have made access to medicines, especially in low-income communities, more difficult. Meanwhile, the prioritization of pharmaceutical corporations over patients through monopoly protections in trade agreements puts life-saving drugs out of reach for countless more. Decades of trade policy has contributed to a shrinking supply of ingredients to manufacture life-saving drugs that is affecting medicines access during COVID-19. Any monopoly protections that go beyond the terms of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should be eliminated. Rather, public health protections should be included that enable the United States and other countries to promote the human right to health and ensure access to medicines for all. Promote Policies to End Hunger Catholic social teaching offers important values and principles in assessing policies and programs related to agriculture. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus calls us to care for the powerless and those on the margins of society. Starvation and widespread hunger indict us as believers. Hungry children, farmworkers, and farmers in distress are not abstract issues. Our care and concern extend in a special way to those who work in agriculture here and abroad. While some are doing well, others are vulnerable or struggling and living in poverty. Those who farm, work in the fields or on ranches, and process our food must have living wages and a stable life. Agricultural trade practices with developing countries must be fair and seek to protect the dignity of farmers and farmworkers in those countries. An important moral measure of the global agricultural system is how its most vulnerable participants are treated. Current agriculture rules in trade agreements reinforce a corporate model of large-scale, monocrop agriculture heavily dependent on fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. Rules should instead favor people’s right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through sustainable methods and local inputs. Rules on intellectual property rights that prevent farmers from saving and sharing seeds should be removed from agreements. Solidarity and subsidiarity lead us to support and promote smaller, family-run farms not only to produce food, but also to provide a livelihood for families and to form the foundation for thriving rural communities. We welcome any opportunity to dialogue further with the committee to work towards a trade policy centered around values that protect our common home and improve the lives of all people—especially those who historically benefit the least from international trade. Sincerely, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces Leadership Conference of Women Religious Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice