Pelosi & Co. Fire Cheap Shot at Colombia Trade Agreement

Washington – In a sign that the Democratic Party Leadership is willing to do anything to avoid angering the labor unions that line their pockets, Nancy Pelosi announced that she will seek to change House rules in order to delay a vote on the Colombia free trade agreement President Bush sent to Congress this week.

Under Fast Track Authority rules, Congress is required to hold an up-or-down vote on a trade agreement once the President submits it to Congress. But the Democrats are loath to vote on the trade agreement before the November elections, lest a vote in support of the agreement infuriate the labor unions. Instead, Pelosi will request that the House Rules Committee remove the timeline rule for the Colombia agreement and push off the vote until after November 2008.

The ironic result of this electoral cheap shot is that the Democrats are on record supporting lower tariffs for Colombian products imported into America but higher tariffs for American products exported to Colombia. Currently, most Colombian exports to the United States are tariff-free, the result of the Andean Trade Preference Act. A vast majority of Congress—359 members, including Democratic Leadership—wisely voted in support of the act in June 2007. The pending Colombia agreement would accomplish the reciprocal; it would eliminate tariffs on U.S. exports to Colombia, clearly a boon to American businesses. But now, many of the Democrats who supported removing tariffs from Colombian products are standing in the way of accomplishing the same goal with American goods.

“Led by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Party is playing electoral politics with America’s economic growth,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Just because the Democrats are afraid of the labor bosses doesn’t mean American workers business people should be forced to suffer. The Democrats should have the backbone to vote on a bill even when the bright spotlight of public opinion is shining down on Congress.”

The Club for Growth will be key-voting the House vote on changing Fast Track rules. Key votes are included in our Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress. The scorecard provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies.