Bush urges accord on Colombia trade pact
WASHINGTON - President Bush announced yesterday that he is sending a Colombian free-trade agreement to Congress, moving toward a confrontation with Democrats and labor unions that he could lose during a hotly contested election year.
Bush views free trade as one of the signature issues of his presidency. He said loosening market barriers with Colombia is vital to national security and to the US economy, and will bolster the antileftist efforts of President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, a US ally.
"Approving the free-trade agreement is one of the most important ways America can demonstrate our support for Colombia," Bush said during remarks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. "People throughout the hemisphere are watching to see what the United States will do."
The proposal prompted immediate and heated opposition from leading Democrats, who accused Bush of grandstanding and said the pact is certain to be rejected. Under "fast-track" rules negotiated with Congress, Bush's move forces lawmakers to conduct an up-or-down vote on the proposed pact within 90 legislative days.
Senate majority leader Harry M. Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called the agreement "a continuation of failed policies" that "have already cost countless American workers their jobs and have done profound harm to US foreign policy." Reid and other Democrats argue that Colombia has failed to protect labor activists, quell violence, and shut down paramilitary groups.
The proposed agreement has played a prominent role in the Democratic presidential race, with Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois both opposing the pact.
