April 19, 2008

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week, I will be hosting the North American Leaders' Summit in New Orleans. This event will give me an opportunity to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calder n to discuss some of the most significant issues facing our hemisphere and the world.

One of the issues that I'll be discussing with these leaders is the importance of expanding trade in our hemisphere. Recently I sent Congress an agreement that would expand America's access to markets in Colombia. Unfortunately, the Speaker of the House has chosen to block the Colombia free trade agreement instead of giving it an up or down vote that Congress committed to. Her action is unprecedented¹ and extremely unfortunate. I hope that the Speaker will change her mind. If she does not, the agreement will be dead. And this will be bad for American workers and bad for America's national security.

And here is why: Today, almost all of Colombia's exports to the United States enter duty-free. But the 9,000 American businesses that export to Colombia, including nearly 8,000 small and mid-sized firms, face significant tariffs² on their products. The situation is completely one-sided. Our markets are open to Colombian products, but barriers that make it harder to sell American goods in Colombia remain. If the free trade agreement were implemented³, however, most of Colombia's tariffs on American goods would be eliminated immediately.

There is also a strategic imperative⁴ to approve the agreement. By obstructing⁵ this agreement, Congress is signaling to a watching hemisphere that America cannot be trusted to support its friends. Over the past six years, Colombia's President Uribe has been a steadfast⁶ ally of the United States. He's transformed his country from a near-failed state to a stable democracy with a growing economy. He has partnered with America in the fight against drugs and terror. And he has addressed virtually every one of Congress's concerns, including revising the free trade agreement to include some of the most rigorous labor⁷ and environmental protections in history.

He has done all this while his country is under violent assault from a terrorist organization and facing constant intimidation⁸ from anti-American regimes in the region. As Canada's Prime Minister Harper has said, "If the U.S. turns its back on its friends in Colombia, this will set back our cause far more than any Latin American dictator could hope to achieve."

Leaders in Congress have made a serious error, but it is not too late to get it right. This week, a long list of senior officials from Democratic administrations and Democrats⁹ from previous Congresses signed a letter urging Congress to approve the agreement this year. They wrote, "We feel that the treaty should be considered as soon as possible and that any obstacles should be quickly and amicably¹⁰ resolved." I strongly agree. I believe that if the Speaker allows a vote on the merits, a majority of the House of Representatives will approve the trade agreement. So I urge leaders in Congress to reconsider their position, recognize the stakes at hand, and approve the Colombia agreement as soon as possible.

Thank you for listening.

END