Roth Statement on the WTO
WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Delegation to the Third World Trade Organization Ministerial Meeting in Seattle, released the following statement:
"Opening foreign markets to U.S. workers and firms is essential for our continued prosperity. Like others at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Meetings in Seattle, I am very disappointed at the chaos and confusion that led to the failure to launch a broader round of trade talks.
"The talks in Seattle did accomplish something important that I am proud to say that I had a hand in initiating. I invited legislators from all WTO member countries attending the conference to a first-ever gathering of members of Congress and parliaments from WTO member governments. The legislators approved a resolution calling for the establishment of a more permanent forum of elected officials that would monitor the activities of the WTO and provide an opportunity for a direct exchange of views among those elected officials regarding the WTO's agenda. What that meeting of elected legislators reflected was the ability of the WTO as an institution to open its doors to the representative voice of the people."
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