USTR Informs Congress of Intent to Initiate Free Trade Talks with Bahrain

In two letters to the House and the Senate, Ambassador Robert Zoellick, the U.S. Trade Representative informed the U.S. Congress about President Bush’s plan to initiate negations for free trade Agreement (FTA) with the Kingdom of Bahrain in January 2004.

An FTA with Bahrain will advance President Bush’s initiative for the creation of a Middle East Free Trade Area. A U.S.–Bahrain FTA will build on other FTA’s that the United States already has with other Muslim countries. The U.S. has an FTA with Jordan as well as the FTA that currently being negotiated with Morocco.

“An FTA will directly benefit the United States. By reducing and eliminating barriers to trade, a comprehensive FTA with Bahrain will generate export opportunities for the United States, creating U.S. Jobs and enhancing choice and value for American consumers,” Ambassador Zoellick write in his letters to Congress.

The United States and Bahamian signed a bilateral investment treaty in 2001 and entered into a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) last year.

For More information, visit http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2003/08/index.shtml

Schwarzenegger Enters Race for Governor

In what came to many as a shock, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced earlier this week that he indeed will be running for governor of California. The announcement came during the taping of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, and will definitely add intensity to the gubernatorial race. Schwarzenegger stated, “The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing”, and went on to remark “The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled and this is why I am going to run for governor.”

Democrats see Schwarzenegger’s entrance into the race as adding fuel to an already unnecessary fire. Current Governor Gray Davis issued a statement calling the action-film star merely the latest in a list of dozens of people of every possible stripe who have declared their intent to run, noting that Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is among them.

Other recent candidates entering the race are “Diff'rent Strokes” star Gary Coleman, columnist Arianna Huffington, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. The elections on the recall ballot will be held later this year on October 7th.

Poll Shows Support for Gays Declining after Supreme Court Ruling

After the landmark decision of the Supreme Court in Lawrence vs. Texas, Gallup polls taken by USA Today and CNN suggest that Americans are less tolerant of gays. When asked the question of whether gay sex between consenting adults should be legal 48 percent of those surveyed said yes while 46 responded no. It is the lowest support for homosexuals Gallup has found since the mid 1990s.

The survey was taken in retrospect of the Supreme Court decision and two other significant gay events: The legalization of gay marriage in two Canadian provinces, and the announcement by Wal-Mart that it had added sexuality to its written non-discrimination policy. Many see the polling results as symbolic of the publics resentment of these incidents.