103-465 ), which is the law that implemented the agreements reached during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (1986-1994), the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must submit to the Congress every five years a report that analyzes the costs and benefits of continued U.S. participation in the WTO. Once Congress receives this comprehensive report, any Member of Congress may introduce a joint resolution withdrawing congressional approval of the Agreement establishing the WTO. On May 26, 2005, the House Ways and Means Committee reported the resolution adversely ( H.Rept. On June 9, 2005, the House defeated H.J.Res. 27 by a vote of 338-86. The withdrawal resolution offered the opportunity for Members to examine the costs and benefits of WTO participation, express the degree of satisfaction with WTO dispute decisions, or debate other aspects of WTO membership. In addition to considering the withdrawal resolution, the 109 th Congress will monitor WTO disputes involving U.S. interests and U.S. laws. At the same time, the United States and the other members of the WTO are participating in a multilateral round of trade negotiations. The main body of the report addresses selected issues for the United States: the economic costs and benefits to the United States, decisionmaking in the WTO and national sovereignty; the WTO dispute process; arguments on whether or not to include labor, environmental, and food safety standards in the WTO; and the WTO and developing countries. First, the governments of the member countries agree on a set of multilateral rules and principles for trade, which provide a stable and predictable basis for trade. Third, the WTO provides a forum for negotiations to reduce trade barriers. In the report that the President submitted to Congress on March 2, 2005, on the costs and benefits of U.S. participation in the WTO, the Administration has equated U.S. economic success with WTO membership through a variety of trade and non-trade statistics. Decisionmaking

Questions of governance and power are often at the heart of the debate over the WTO. Multinational corporations have no direct participation in WTO decision-making and cannot file dispute settlement actions on their own. Another issue is the relationship between WTO agreements and state laws and regulations. There have been complaints that countries have not adhered to dispute panels' findings. In the 108 th Congress, Senator Baucus introduced a bill ( S. 676 ) to establish a WTO Dispute Settlement Review Commission to review all reports of dispute settlement panels or the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in proceedings initiated by other parties to the WTO that are adverse to the United States and that are adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body. Although there are many complaints about the WTO dispute process, especially after a major WTO dispute decision against the United States, some Members of Congress look to the WTO dispute process as an important way to challenge the trade practices of other nations. They also argue that environmental protection in the United States has not been compromised.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is of interest to the 109th Congress for several reasons. First, House Members considered a joint resolution (H.J.Res. 27) to withdraw congressional approval of the agreement establishing the WTO. The House Ways and Means Committee reported the resolution adversely on May 26, 2005, and the full House disapproved the resolution by a vote of 338-86 on June 9, 2005. Debate on the resolution offered Members an opportunity to examine the costs and benefits of WTO participation and examine other aspects of WTO membership.
Second, the 109th Congress will monitor WTO disputes involving U.S. interests and possibly consider whether or not to amend U.S. laws to address WTO dispute panel findings. Members have criticized the WTO dispute process for several reasons, but the process does offer a stable multilateral forum for trade disputes. Third, the United States and other WTO members are actively engaged in a multilateral round of trade negotiations in the WTO. The 109th Congress is monitoring those negotiations. Final agreements are not expected until 2006 or later.
In a report submitted to Congress on March 2, 2005, on the costs and benefits of continued participation in the WTO, the Administration cited a number of statistics that show growth in the U.S. and world economies since establishment of the WTO. Whether the growth cited was the result exclusively or mainly of activity in the WTO is arguable. Academic studies indicate that the United States would gain substantially from broad reductions in trade barriers worldwide. At the same time, some workers and industries might not share in those gains.
Questions of governance and power are among the issues at the heart of the debate on the WTO. Major decisions in the WTO are made by member governments, who determine their negotiating positions, file dispute challenges, and implement their decisions. However, some challenge the claim that the WTO is democratic in nature by arguing that smaller countries are left out of the decision-making and that governments tend to represent large commercial interests only.
The United States has been a frequent participant in WTO dispute proceedings, both as a complainant and as a respondent. There have been many complaints of the WTO dispute process, including the arguments that countries do not adhere to decisions and that U.S. trade remedy laws have not been judged properly. On the other hand, this multilateral trade dispute forum is unique, and the United States has been successful in many of its challenges.
Other issues include (1) the relationship between WTO rules and a country's right to establish domestic standards for labor, the environment, food safety, and other areas; and (2) U.S. policy toward developing countries, including a balance between providing assistance to those countries in the WTO and addressing their demands in trade negotiations.