PDF: Tennessee Benefits

WASHINGTON — Flanked by several Hispanic business leaders and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and his Republican Senate colleagues on Wednesday urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to pass the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.

“From the standpoint of our own economic interests, from the standpoint of our own national security interests, and from the standpoint of it being a moral issue, it is (totally) inappropriate that this free trade agreement has not been to the floor for a vote,” Sen. Corker said at a news conference.

The agreement, already passed by the Senate but held up by Speaker Pelosi in the House, would “level the playing field” on tariffs, as U.S. exporters now are charged a levy on goods sent to Colombia while Colombian imports are duty free, the Republican lawmakers said.

President Bush also has urged its passage, but Rep. Pelosi has said domestic priorities outweigh the urgency to pass the free trade deal and that “the timing has to be that of America’s working families, not the timing of the president.”

Labor groups also are opposed to the deal, as are Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Sen. Corker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who visited Colombia in March, said the country has made strides in curbing labor-related violence and that the agreement not only would benefit U.S. consumers but also raise Colombian standards of living.

“We hope that those who care about the relationship between us and those in Latin America will put pressure on the House to make sure that this comes to a full vote in the House — a vote of conscience,” he said.

Tennessee’s exports to Colombia last year totaled $151 million, up more than 124 percent from two years earlier, according to Sen. Corker’s office.

Secretary Gutierrez said the deal would help preserve stability in the region and keep Colombia as an ally, particularly against Hugo Chavez, the socialist president of Venezuela.

“This is a neighboring country, and we want our neighbors to prosper,” he said.