All-Call Day of Action Thursday, February 22:
"NO NAFTA for the Americas - NO FTAA"!

Thousands of fair trade activists delivered "wake-up calls" to the U.S. Congress last month to demand that our Representatives get involved in breaking the silence around secret negotiations to create "NAFTA for the Americas." Formally called the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), it is an expansion of NAFTA to all 35 countries in the western hemisphere but one (that's Cuba). We reminded Congress that FTAA is NAFTA all over again, and that we won't stand for sending living-wage jobs to union-busting sweatshops to save Big Business a buck, for endangering regulations that protect public health and safety and the environment, and the "investor-to-state" rules that allow corporations to sue governments -- at taxpayer expense! -- anytime they feel that laws designed to protect people and communities limit their profit margins.

Now you have their attention. Last month, a bipartisan group of 63 Representatives sent a letter to the White House, demanding that the U.S. Trade Representative start consulting Congress about the negotiations, as required by the Constitution, and that the negotiations process be opened so that all documents on FTAA are available to the public. So Congress is growing more aware of our concerns. But the big challenges are still ahead of us! Trade negotiators are going ahead with planned meetings this April on FTAA -- without input from citizens or our elected representatives. We must keep the pressure on Members of Congress to join the fight against NAFTA for the Americas!

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE: CONGRESS IS COMING HOME! The first recess period of the 107thCongress is coming up, February 16-26, and this is your chance to speak up again while they're on your home turf.

YOU can help stop NAFTA for the Americas! This week, here's how:

* Get a meeting! The best way to make an impression is to talk to your Representative face to face. Put together a diverse group of people from your district (union representatives, environmental leaders, local officials, students, human rights advocates...) and request a meeting at your hometown office, or go on your own. Don't take no for an answer! If the Representative can't meet, find out if a staffer is available or ask about the schedule for town hall meetings so that you can address your concerns there. Talking points and sample meeting request letters are at www.tradewatch.org.

* Be part of the national All-Call Day on FTAA on Thursday, Feb. 22! Call your Representative and Senators at their district offices. These local numbers can be found in your phone book blue pages, or from their official websites (check www.house.gov and www.senate.gov). Then call their trade staffers in Washington through the Capitol Switchboard (). Ask them to commit to oppose the "NAFTA for the Americas"!

* Write a letter to the editor! Samples are online at www.tradewatch.org. If your Representative hasn't stated his or her position on "NAFTA for the Americas" yet, this is a good place to ask them, publicly, to do it -- especially if he or she turned down your request for a meeting!

* Report back! If your Representative or Senators tell you about their positions on FTAA, we want to know so that we can thank fair trade champions and keep the heat on those who favor profits over people. Call us at and ask for the Global Trade Watch field team, or email .

For more information on "NAFTA for the Americas" and how YOU can be part of the "Campaign of Inquiry" to uncover the truth about these negotiations, visit www.tradewatch.org or call Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch at .