Colombia trade pact dispute spills into Californians' laps
A visiting delegation to Washington that includes L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa hears dueling, accusatory speeches by Pelosi, U.S. trade envoy over stalled free trade agreement.
WASHINGTON — A morning breakfast briefing for a delegation of Southern California business and government officials in town to lobby Congress turned nasty this morning with a bitter war of words over the proposed Colombian free trade agreement.
Some 200 guests -- including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- found themselves caught in the middle of the high-level trade dispute that has exposed a deep rift between the administration and the Democratic congressional leadership.
Last week, President Bush said he was sending the trade agreement to Congress for its consideration. The House voted April 8 to delay consideration, likely until after the November elections, effectively blocking the measure because the Senate cannot act until after the House does.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) spoke first, telling a nonpartisan partnership led mainly by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce that the trade measure could not pass until it did more to invest in infrastructure.
"I've told the White House we stand ready to discuss with them how we can proceed at bringing this legislation to the floor," she said. "I've said, 'If you want to do it the way you want to do it, it will lose. If you just want to jam it down the throats of Congress, it will lose.' "
Susan C. Schwab, the U.S. trade representative, who followed Pelosi but did not hear her speech, complained that House Democrats were ruining a great deal for the United States.
"The Colombia agreement is in limbo and effectively dead unless the speaker of the House provides a time-specific vote," she said. "The Colombians and the Colombian agreement and the American people and anyone in this country who cares about exports deserves to have an up-or-down vote on this free trade agreement."
"This is, by any definition, a winner for the United States," Schwab said. "Every single one of those sectors in the United States that exports, and exports to Colombia, will be saving hundreds of thousands and ultimately millions of dollars."
Pelosi said House Democrats worked with the administration to ratify a free trade agreement with Peru and supported the stimulus package passed this year.
"I have been saying for a while to the White House that it would be very hard to pass any trade agreements in the present climate because people across America, and you know more about this issue than anyone, are concerned about losing their jobs because of immigration and because of trade," Pelosi said. "Right or wrong. Valid or not."
