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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'>The KORUS Free Trade Agreement was negotiated and signed by President Bush over three years ago. Because of concerns about cars and catfish – refrigerators and rice – TV sets and beef, and a host of other important issues, this FTA remains unresolved. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'>Scores of members of congress have suggested the Korea FTA be renegotiated or scrapped, and hundreds of groups from the faith, farm, labor and environmental communities remain opposed to passage in its current form.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'>We are asking you to join with these many groups, and add your organization's name to the list of those opposed to this Bush-negotiated Korea FTA. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'>To add your organization's name, please send it to <a href="mailto:agussert@citizenstrade.org"><span style='color:#002060'>agussert@citizenstrade.org</span></a> by August 12th.</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'> (The letter will not go out under any specific letterhead.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";color:navy'>Many Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";color:navy'>Andy Gussert<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";color:navy'>202-494-8826<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";color:#002060'>---<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#002060'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing align=right style='text-align:right'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>August 16th, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>President Barack Obama<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The White House <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Washington, D.C. 20500 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Dear President Obama:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>We, the undersigned faith, family farm, environmental, labor, consumer protection and civil society organizations, are among the many that support your campaign commitments to create a new American trade agreement model that works for more people, and strongly oppose the Bush-negotiated Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Signed by President Bush over three years ago, the Korea FTA represents a throwback to a failed trade policy, not the promised change. Our members strongly oppose more of these same job-killing, community destroying trade policies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>We urge you to renegotiate the Korea FTA text. Doing so offers an opportunity to begin to unify Americans in favor of new trade rules that create American jobs. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This Korea FTA, signed before the financial crisis, includes financial service deregulation terms that typify Bush’s FTAs, but contradict efforts to restore stability to the global economy. The pact’s labor chapter includes the Bush administration’s explicit ban on reference to the International Labor Organization’s core Conventions. Yet the Conventions and related jurisprudence are the fundamental platform of international labor rights. This limitation was imposed by the previous administration in 2007 when various FTAs’ labor chapters were being modified. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This FTA also includes extreme foreign investor rights and their private investor-state enforcement that you rightly criticized during the campaign. These terms pose special threats because there are many Korean firms operating here that would be newly empowered to attack U.S. environmental, financial, health and other policies in foreign tribunals. Canadian firms have used NAFTA, the only other pact with a major capital exporting country that includes these terms, to bring a series of cases which have cost millions in government legal costs even when we successfully defend against the attacks. Implementing the Korea FTA as written would newly expose the U.S. government and taxpayers to expansive financial liabilities related to compensation demands in foreign tribunals from Korean firms operating within our borders.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>These are problems of equal importance to the barriers to the Korean market that were left unaddressed with respect to numerous U.S. industries such as the auto and beef sectors. As you recall, the International Trade Commission’s 2007 study of the Korea FTA concluded that it would result in the growth of the U.S. global trade deficit, an outcome that would undermine the goal of creating two million new American jobs through export expansion. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Both the problems with the FTA’s rules and with meaningful market access for U.S. exports must be addressed in a manner that incorporates needed improvements into the agreement’s legally-binding, enforceable terms.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Moving forward with another job-killing FTA is contrary to what our organizations’ millions of members want, and, as polling demonstrates, what the overwhelming majority of Americans want. Public demand for a new American trade model was high even before millions of Americans lost their jobs to the worst economic debacle since the Great Depression. Now, given the level of unemployment and economic insecurity plaguing many Americans, implementing another NAFTA-style trade pact is especially unwise. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>As a roadmap for renegotiating the most problematic provisions of the Korea FTA text, we encourage you to consider the <i>Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act,</i> which has the support of over 150 members of Congress, including a majority of House Democrats. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>We strongly agree with your statements that America needs a new trade agreement model that works for the majority, not just the special interests. We cannot support outdated trade agreements, such as Bush’s Korea FTA, that benefit serial offshoring multinational corporations at the expense of America’s small businesses, workers and farmers and the environmental, health and public interest laws on which all Americans rely. We hope that you will renegotiate the most damaging aspects of the Korea FTA. If it is brought before Congress without the needed changes, we will work to defeat it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Sincerely, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>National Organizations<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Americans for Democratic Action <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Communications Workers of America<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>National Family Farm Coalition <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Int. Association of Machinists <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Int. Brotherhood of Boilermakers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Int. Brotherhood of Teamsters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Public Citizens Global Trade Watch<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>United Methodist Gen. Board of Church & Society<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>United Steelworkers <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>United Students Against Sweatshops <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Witness for Peace<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>State Organizations<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>California Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Florida Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Maine Fair Trade Campaign<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>New York Citizens Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Ohio Conference on Fair Trade<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Oregon Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Texas Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Washington Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>