The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a disaster as it has cost Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The architects of NAFTA are now expanding its reach piecemeal into a free trade zone covering all nations of the Western Hemisphere by entering trade agreements with individual nations of South America. These agreements take decisions out of the hands of our state and federal legislators and put regulatory powers in the hands of international tribunals, thus reducing the sovereignty of our nation. Efforts of the internationalists were temporarily slowed several years ago when the Free Trade Area of the Americas was defeated.

In addition to pushing for the merger of the United States, Mexico and Canada into a North American Union, internationalists are continuing to create the building blocks for FTAA. On Nov. 8, the Senate followed the House of Representatives in approving a free trade agreement with Peru. They never give up.

We do not have to look far for those responsible. Georgia's senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, voted for the agreement. Ten of Georgia's representatives voted for the agreement.

To pour salt into the wound, Congress and the White House encourage U.S. companies to move operations out of the United States by financing their foreign factories with our tax money through the Export Import Bank, the International Investment Fund and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Efforts at local and statewide economic development are becoming akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We need to look less at our local and statewide economic development agencies to help Georgia communities create jobs. These efforts become increasingly futile if jobs continue to be exported by our elected officials in Washington.

Instead, we need to turn our attention to our members of Congress in Washington who are encouraging job loss to foreign countries through free trade agreements and taxpayer-funded subsidies.

Joe Inglis, Clarkesville