Dear Secretary Powell:
As you know, the United States is hosting the next Free Trade Area of the Americas ministerial in November 2003, in Miami, Florida. The Free Trade Area of the Americas is an extremely ambitious undertaking. Once concluded, the FTAA will be the world’s largest free trade agreement, covering nearly 800 million people and more than $11 trillion in goods and services.
Because of the importance of the FTAA negotiations to the U.S. economy, the General Accounting Office (GAO) was commissioned to provide periodic reports to the Finance Committee on the status of the negotiations. Most recently, it was requested that the GAO report to the Finance and Ways and Means Committees on the readiness of the United States to host the November 2003 ministerial. The GAO noted that preparations for the FTAA ministerial were underway, but that USTR, as the lead agency, must intensify preparations for the ministerial if it is to be successful.
GAO also noted that the Department of State was providing only limited assistance to the USTR as it prepares for the ministerial. At this point we are just six months away from the ministerial. While we fully understand that USTR is the lead agency responsible for preparations, the Department of State is one of the few agencies with the expertise and resources required to organize and coordinate a multinational meeting of this magnitude.
We sincerely hope that the United States Department of State will do everything it can over the next several months to work with USTR and provide the resources necessary to help ensure that the FTAA ministerial is a success.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
Max Baucus
cc: The Honorable Al Larson The Honorable Peter F. Allgeier
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Source: Ranking Member’s News
