Speaker Pelosi Was Right to Block Colombia Free Trade Pact

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was right last week to indefinitely delay House approval of the U.S.–Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.

Despite the impatient and oddly desperate urging of President Bush, supporters of Pelosi's decision come not just from liberals and Democratic presidential candidates, but also from populist conservatives and even a leading libertarian.

OneNewsNow.com wrote about Lew Rockwell, a respected top libertarian thinker who is pro-free trade and anti-labor union:

"Lew Rockwell... says free trade is good for economic development and establishing peace among nations, but that the Colombian agreement being pushed by President Bush is a form of 'managed trade.' He argues that the legislation is full of special deals for big companies, yet does not make it easier for the small-business person to engage in international trade.

" 'These sorts of trade agreements -- we've had it with NAFTA and CAFTA and others -- are not actually free trade,' Rockwell explains. 'What they do is ... give special benefits, special deals to big companies ... that are friendly to the administration in power.'

"The political pundit is convinced that even those siding with Bush on the legislation really have no idea what all the ramifications might be."

A common complaint is that U.S. free trade agreements have failed to be smart, beneficial deals for the U.S., often benefitting only a few American mega-corporations. (See Pros & Cons of Free Trade Agreements .)

Of course, U.S. labor unions oppose this and most free trade agreements, but for entirely different reasons than Mr. Rockwell. The Teamsters report about leader Jimmy Hoffa:

" 'This trade deal is an insult to every American who works for a living,' Hoffa said. 'Workers are feeling the pain of the trade deals that began with NAFTA. They’ve been disasters.

" 'The Teamsters, the Change to Win federation and the entire labor movement will work tirelessly to defeat this job-killing trade deal that never should have been negotiated in the first place,' Hoffa said.

"The proposed deal with Colombia is especially repugnant to U.S. labor unions as Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for union members."

In fact, the New York Times reported, in an article entitled Union Killings Peril Trade Pact With Colombia :

"More than 2,500 union members in Colombia have been killed since 1985, with fewer than 100 cases resulting in convictions, according to the National Labor School, a labor research group in Medellín."

The Voice Of America reports that "Many congressional Democrats say they oppose the agreement because of Colombia's often-criticized record on human-rights issues and labor-union activity."

Pelosi and Bush Wrangle Over Fate of Colombia Free Trade Agreement
The U.S.-Colombia agreement was signed by the Bush administration at the end of 2006, subject to normal approval by the House once the White House presents the legislation for vote. Trade promotion rules dictate that once legislation is presented to Congress, it must be voted upon within 90 days.

Speaker Pelosi and Democratic-led House leadership told Bush that more changes were needed to the Colombia agreement before passage could be secured. The President ignored Pelosi's advice, and sent the legislation to the House on April 8th... assuming he had cornered the House into acceptance.

As is within her realm, Speaker Pelosi surprised the President by promptly blocking vote on the agreement, thereby rendering the legislation indefinitely deferred. Reported the New York Times:

" Ms. Pelosi and other Democrats said they had earlier beseeched the White House not to submit the agreement— which involves a small part of United States trade — without doing more to help homeowners and the unemployed as the economy weakens...

"A senior administration official, speaking anonymously to discuss internal negotiations, said the administration had offered to add spending programs to the trade deal to help workers in the United States. But another administration official said the offers from the White House were more limited.

"But Democrats said the White House had been adamant in refusing to offer such incentives, despite the fact that Ms. Pelosi again told Mr. Bush, at what was described as a testy meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the White House, that the accord was not dead if he would be forthcoming."

Said Speaker Pelosi, "We first and foremost are going to look out for American working families."

The proverbial ball is in President Bush's court. But don't hold your breath for passage anytime soon.

George Bush is hardly known for compromising in order to help middle-class Americans, and Democrats are far more worried about pleasing voters in November than appeasing George Bush.

(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Related Reading
Profile of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
Pros & Cons of U.S. Free Trade Agreements