House Republicans push for Colombia pact vote
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans pressured U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday to set a vote on a free trade pact with Colombia, which they said would die if Congress does not approve it this year.
"If the 110th Congress adjourns without a vote in both the House and the Senate, the agreement will be well and truly dead," senior Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Rules Committee said in a letter to colleagues.
The free trade deal with Colombia, one of the United States' staunchest allies in Latin America, has been in limbo since April, when Pelosi rebuffed an effort by President George W. Bush to force a vote on the pact.
Bush submitted the agreement under White House trade promotion authority, a law passed in 2002 which required Congress to vote approve or reject trade agreements within 90 days and without making any amendments.
However, Pelosi pushed through a rule change allowing her to delay action indefinitely on the pact.
She said Bush had ignored her warning that Congress was not ready to vote on agreement, which many Democrats strongly oppose on the grounds that they believe Colombia has not done enough to curb violence against labor groups.
Rep. Jim McCrery said he and two other Republicans sent their letter "to make sure everybody is aware that next year is not an option. We've got to get Colombia done this year."
The agreement's remaining protections under trade promotion authority will expire if it is not passed before the end of the current congressional session, he said.
Moving a high-profile agreement like the Colombia pact through Congress without barring lawmakers from offering amendments would doom the pact, McCrery said.
In another effort to keep attention on the agreement, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said on Wednesday he would lead several lawmakers on a trip to Colombia this weekend.
It is the latest in a series of trips Bush administration has led to the country to drum up support for the pact.
The House also voted 414 to 10 on Wednesday to approve a Republican-crafted amendment commending Colombia for its July 2 operation that freed 15 hostages, including three Americans.
"The Colombians are winning their internal war against the guerrillas and paramilitaries that have plagued the country for half a century," House Republican Whip Roy Blunt said in a statement that attributed a share of that success to the $5.5 billion in U.S. aid for Colombia since 2002.
"Unfortunately, last year my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cut millions of operational funds from Plan Colombia and this year they have failed to consider a trade deal that would help consolidate the gains achieved in Colombia over the past decade," Blunt said.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
