Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This is actually an amendment that I feel very strongly about. As we saw, we had a number of witnesses come forward talking about labour rights in Panama. They told us how those labour rights have been undermined, both by the actions of the Panamanian government this spring and also by some of the provisions of the Panamanian labour code now, which exempt provisions of the labour code from significant proportions of Panamanian territory.
This amendment would offer the right to collective bargaining as a key component in the purpose and the objectives of the implementation legislation. Given the fact that collective bargaining was bulldozed in the spring, and a number of trade union activists died as a result of the “fight back” campaign from labour activists against that legislation, we'd be sending an important signal to the Panamanian government that collective bargaining rights are a principle that we do not compromise on.