Rep. Rangel urges patience on U.S.-Colombia trade deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It would be better to build more support in Congress first for a free trade agreement with Colombia, than risk an embarrassing defeat by moving too quickly to a vote on the deal, a senior Democrat in the House said on Wednesday.

"Colombia comes with heavy political weight and those issues have to be resolved," House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, told reporters shortly after his panel voted 39-0 to approve a free trade deal with Colombia's neighbor, Peru.

Many members of Congress are strongly opposed to the Colombia agreement because they feel the South American country has not done enough to stop the murders of trade unionists and bring their killers to justice.

However, Rangel praised steps Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has taken to end decades of civil war and said he wanted to work to win approval of the agreement.

"Colombia is still being studied by the members and as I told the ambassador who was here this morning ... that we would want to work harder in getting votes for Colombia rather than bring the bill up and having it defeated, which we think would be a rebuff to a great president and to great country and a great ally," Rangel said.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and acting U.S. Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner will lead a small congressional delegation to Colombia this weekend to try to drum up support for the pact.

"I am confident the more lawmakers know about this country's courageous move toward democracy and open trade, the more they will see how this agreement will benefit the people of both countries," Schwab said in a statement.

Rangel told reporters he had a responsibility as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee to not move too quickly even though the Bush administration was pushing for action.

"I have to make sure I don't embarrass my government by pushing a bill that doesn't have enough support to win," Rangel said.

As a practical matter, the crowded legislative calendar makes it unlikely Congress will have time to vote on the trade pact with Colombia or a separate deal with Panama this year, Rangel said.

"This is the first time I'm saying publicly that we have to look at next year, but it's not because we both don't want it considered," Rangel said, standing next to the committee's top Republican, Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, who indicated his agreement.

Rangel said he would prefer Congress vote next on the Panama agreement, "but that's the administration's call."

The election of Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, who is wanted in the United States on charges he killed a U.S. soldier in 1992, to head Panama's National Assembly is still a "political impediment" to approval of that pact, Rangel said.

But "it's my opinion and Jim McCrery's opinion that we should move forward. We hope that the person that's indicted and wanted for murdering a United States soldier, that that impediment could some way be alleviated," he said.