House set to "kill" Colombia deal: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives will effectively kill a free trade deal with Colombia by voting later on Thursday to delay action on it indefinitely, a White House spokeswoman said.

"We believe that if the Democrats decide to hold this vote today they are effectively killing the Colombia free trade agreement and there are lots of consequences that go along with that," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

President George W. Bush sent the Colombia free trade agreement to Congress on Tuesday in an attempt to force a vote on it before the end of the year.

The United States and Colombia signed the deal in November 2006 but it is strongly opposed by U.S. labor groups -- a core Democratic Party constituency -- who say Colombia has not done enough to stop killings of trade unionists and to put their murderers in jail.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to Bush's action by scheduling a vote on Thursday to eliminate long-standing "fast track" procedures for considering trade deals.

Those require Congress to approve or reject a trade deal within 90 days of receiving it from the White House. They also include an 60-day action for House action.

"She (Pelosi) decided that she was going to take control of the timetable and that's what she's done," said Rep. Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat who heads the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee.

Pelosi said on Wednesday lawmakers could still vote this year on the Colombia agreement if the White House and Congress reach agreement on a raft of other economic measures.

But Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said he doubted that.

"They've moved the goalposts so many time that you've got to believe this vote is effectively an attempt by the speaker to kill the Colombia bill," Spicer said.

Levin told reporters there "was no specific timeframe" for a vote on the deal.

Democrats complain that Bush sent the pact despite warnings from Pelosi and other Democrats that there was not enough support in Congress to approve the pact.

The White House says it has worked hard since the deal was signed in November 2006 to accommodate Democratic party concerns about the pact, including renegotiating it last year to include stronger labor and environmental provisions.

"I think the speaker has shown she'd rather kill the bill," Spicer said. "The speaker is doing what the unions have said they want."

(Reporting by Doug Palmer, Matt Spetalnick and Richard Cowan; Editing by Bill Trott)