Speaker Pelosi Slammed by Hometown Newspaper for Killing Colombia Free Trade Agreement

MONDAY, AUG 3, 2008

The House is not in session.

TUESDAY, AUG 4, 2008

The House is not in session.

WEDNESDAY, AUG 5, 2008

The House is not in session.

THURSDAY, AUG 6, 2008

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FRIDAY, AUG 7, 2008

The House is not in session.

Leader Alert

Speaker Pelosi Slammed by Hometown Newspaper for Killing Colombia Free Trade Agreement
Boehner Calls Speaker's Decision "Political Blackmail," San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Agrees: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi is Playing Politics"

Washington, Apr 11, 2008 - When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) own hometown newspaper slams her for a decision she’s made in Congress, you can be sure that decision was especially egregious. And make no mistake, her decision to single-handedly kill a free trade agreement that would open up a new market to American-made products – and, in turn, create and protect U.S. jobs – qualifies for such hometown scorn. An editorial in this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle chides the Speaker for killing a free trade pact with Colombia solely for perceived short-term political gain:

“American exports are enticingly cheap, and Washington could badly use a solid ally in Latin America.”

“These are all good reasons to support a free-trade pact with Colombia, which the White House has negotiated and brought to Congress.”

“But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is playing politics by pandering to free-trade foes. Instead of accepting the usual fast-track process of voting up or down on the treaty within 90 days, she plans to rip up these rules and sidetrack the matter.”

“It’s not hard to guess why. She’s clearing the field of a painful Democratic dilemma: backing wider trade that unions fear will threaten their jobs.”

At a time when families and businesses are dealing with rising costs of living, both parties in Washington, D.C. should be working together to identify new places to sell American products and new avenues to create American jobs. But with her decision, the Speaker is killing that ability – all for perceived short-term political gain. In fact, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday accused the Speaker of “political blackmail” by changing the rules in order to kill the trade agreement.

Not to be outdone, an editorial in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) home state newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, yesterday took aim at the Democratic leadership’s irresponsible and unprecedented decision, saying it amounted to “stabbing our trade partners in the back”:

“Ms. Pelosi, acting at the behest of the protectionist union interests who now run the Democratic Party, says she’ll take the unprecedented step of holding a procedural vote today to remove the required timetable, shielding her members from having to go on the record opposing a free trade pact with our most reliable South American ally…"

“Democrats claim they don’t oppose trade, they just want trade to be ‘fair’ and to protect American workers. But shielding inefficient industries from competition only delays the inevitable – and undermining the ability of American firms to market and sell their products overseas represents a much more serious threat to U.S. job creation than opening our own borders to foreign goods.”

What makes the Speaker’s decision to kill the Colombia free trade agreement even more outrageous is that the Andean Trade Promotion Agreement, which passed the House in February with no opposition from Democrats, lowered barriers on Colombian goods entering the United States. Passing the Colombia free trade measure would simply apply the same fair treatment to American-made products entering Colombia. But by killing the deal, Speaker Pelosi has coldly choked-off a vital new market for American workers, farmers, and businesses – all for callous and cynical political gain.

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HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner