MR. SMOLINSKI: Hello.

MR. ALLBEE: Your name?

MR. SMOLINSKI: My name is Shawn Smolinski. Good afternoon. I'm from northern Michigan, and I'm also a student at the Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield, Vermont.

The comments I have today address why U.S. Citizens should pressure the U.S. government to back out of WTO. The World Trade Organization institution institutionalizes trade policies that overrule any federal, state and local laws which may impede global trade. According to Ralph Nader and Lori Wallach, as the text says, each member nation shall ensure the conformity of its laws, regulations, and administrative procedures with its obligation as provided in the annexed agreement. So U.S. law and laws of every other nation must conform to WTO and each other." Also all future laws and regulations are automatically submitted to these restrictions as well.

This provides for a particularly disheartening outlook for the future of a radical ecological movement. This movement towards a world where ecologically sound and community oriented technologies and economic practices such as small scale organic agriculture is rendered obsolete in the face of transnational corporate greed for expanded profits.

The WTO trade policies imply a transitive process whereby the WTO undermines federal trade policies assuring states the right to provide economic safeguards, ensuring fair opportunities for local businesses and local economies.

It becomes especially disturbing when you consider the implications for people of the so-called third world countries of Africa and Latin America who actually comprise over 2/3 of the world's population. These people who have financial resources to resist the ecocidal and genocidal implications this globalized economy will have.

According to Saturday's New York Times, just the other day, on July 16 President Clinton signed a bill equivalent to NAFTA for sub-saharan Africa which had been quietly percolating through Congress for the past six months.

My heart sinks at the thought of it. Yet beyond this sadness is anger towards those who represent us, U.S. citizens, in these destructive, shortsighted, capitalist measures.

Knowing that I can't be alone in my indignation and without faith in our elected representatives, I implore my fellow citizens to use the invaluable energy this anger provides to help organize ourselves from the bottom out. And let us establish small, locally-based, community forums for discussing these issues so we may then act against them in a coherent manner. Organized in this way as many small bodies of resistance to oppressive capitalist global economy, let us network, confederate, and stand together in demand without compromise of freedom to live in a democratic society based on cooperation and respect.

Thank you for your time.

MR. ALLBEE: Thank you. (applause).