URGENT NEWS - District Court Rules

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Subject: URGENT NEWS - District Court Rules in Favor of National Foreign

Trade Council;
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NOTE:  Does anyone care to send letters to the NFTC ??   Ask them what
does companies have preference over people.  Why are companies trying to
steer foreign policy?  Company business in any country has NOTHING to do
with Foreign Policy.  The NFTC is steeping on our rights as citizens of
the USA.  


District Court Rules in Favor of National Foreign Trade Council; Finds
            Massachusetts Burma Law Unconstitutional

            PRNewswire
            04-NOV-98

            WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/-- The National
            Foreign Trade Council, Inc. issued the following press
            release today: The United States District Court for the
            District of Massachusetts today ruled the Massachusetts
            Burma Law unconstitutional on the grounds that the statute
            violates the federal government's power to regulate foreign
            affairs. 

            The ruling in National Foreign Trade Council v. Baker,
            stated that "...the court finds that the Massachusetts Burma
            Law impermissibly infringes on the federal government's
            power to regulate foreign affairs... State interests, no
matter
            how noble, do not trump the federal government's exclusive
            foreign affairs power." 

            "Chief Judge Tauro's ruling rests on clear constitutional
            grounds, and should significantly deter states and cities
from
            imposing their own foreign policy sanctions," said Frank
            Kittredge, President of the National Foreign Trade Council,
            the suit's plaintiff. 

            "The constitutional problems created by the Massachusetts
            Burma Law are serious, and the proliferation of similar laws
            in states and cities throughout the country creates a
problem
            not only for business, but for the ability of the United
States
            to conduct a coherent foreign policy," Kittredge continued.
            "We share concerns over reported human rights abuses in
            Burma, however, our system of government was not
            designed to allow the fifty states and hundreds of
            municipalities to conduct their own individual foreign
            policies." 

            The NFTC has, for most of this century, represented the
            interests of hundreds of companies in free international
            trade. NFTC filed the Massachusetts case on behalf of its
            580 members because the law establishes a "restricted
            purchase list" which currently includes over 30 of the
NFTC's
            member companies-- preventing these companies from
            competing on an equal basis for contracts with
            Massachusetts state agencies unless these companies
            cease doing business in Burma.