WASHINGTON -Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA) today announced his deep concerns with the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement implementing bill:
“I don’t know how anyone could vote for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implementing legislation unless it includes a meaningful reference to the Action Plan Related to Labor Rights. The legislation has to clearly state that the President will not allow the FTA to enter into force unless Colombia has met its Action Plan commitments, which relate directly to Colombia’s FTA labor obligations.
“In the past, we have done this, so why not here? In the NAFTA implementing bill, President Clinton directly linked ‘entry into force’ of NAFTA to Canada’s and Mexico’s implementation of the (albeit very flawed) labor and environmental side agreements, which helped ensure that both countries followed through. Even the Bush Administration, in the CAFTA implementing bill, included extensive labor reporting requirements related to the CAFTA and a separate ‘White Paper’ on labor.
“For Republicans to refuse to tie the Action Plan to entry into force is completely unacceptable. Republicans may not care about preventing U.S. businesses from moving their operations offshore to countries where workers toil away for pennies, but like the vast majority of Americans, I do. Including the Colombia Action Plan language would have cost the Republicans nothing. Instead, Republicans have chosen to throw away a chance for bipartisanship - again - and squandered a real opportunity to build a more broadly supported approach to trade."
