Congressman Jim McGovern's Statement on the Colombia Free Trade Act

I thank the gentlelady for her leadership in this important debate. And I rise in strong support of this Rule.

M. Speaker, the policies of the Bush Administration have produced an American economy in crisis. People are losing their jobs. Fuel prices are at a record high. Food prices have dramatically increased. Confidence in the economy is at an all time low.

Maybe this is a radical idea - but shouldn't the energy and focus of the Administration be on fixing these problems?

This Administration has turned a cold shoulder to the plight of American workers. They have opposed efforts to extend unemployment benefits. They have no plan to help 45 million Americans get health insurance - they've even opposed expanding health benefits to children. Their absolute indifference towards our fellow citizens is stunning. It takes my breath away.

Well - that must change.

The Speaker of the House has the right to prioritize legislation. She has stated quite clearly that we want to continue to work with President Uribe to make progress on improving human rights, the rule of law, ending impunity, breaking Colombia's political and military ties to drug lords and paramilitary groups, and protecting and promoting basic labor rights.

M. Speaker, if the Colombian FTA came up today for a vote, I would strongly oppose it. I have repeatedly told the Colombian government that I am always willing to reassess my position. But when it comes to issues like human rights - I refuse to be a cheap date.

The UN, the Red Cross, and U.S. and Colombian human rights groups all describe a worsening humanitarian crisis in Colombia. The number of internally displaced grew by 27 percent over the past year, due to increasing violence throughout the country. And over each of the past three years, murders of civilians by the Colombian Army have been increasing.

Violence against trade unions continues at extremely high levels, and the vast majority of cases of murders of labor leaders remain unsolved. It is true, Mr. Speaker, that murders of trade unionists in 2007 were about half of what they were in 2006. Even then, Colombia had the highest rate of trade union murders in the world. But death threats, attacks, and disappearances skyrocketed. But this one year hiatus in the murder rate may be over: in just the first 12 weeks of 2008, seventeen trade unionists have already been assassinated.

M. Speaker, like many of my House colleagues, I have traveled to Colombia several times over the past seven years. I have gone to Putumayo, not just to fly over fumigated territory, but to meet with hundreds of human rights victims and campesinos on the ground. I have been to Berrancabermeja, Sincelejo and Popayán. I've traveled to San José de Apartado; and to Arauca, where violence from all armed actors reigns supreme and community leaders are murdered like flies. I've visited the slums of Bogotá where the poor and the internally displaced struggle to survive. I've spent hours in meetings with human rights groups, with families whose loved ones are held in brutal captivity by the FARC, and with victims of violence by the paramilitaries and the Colombian Army. I've met with the Constitutional Court; religious and labor leaders; with Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombians; and dozens of government and military officials.

There is so much more to Colombia than the Administration's day-and-a-half excursion tours to Medellín and Cartagena.

M. Speaker, Congress must insist upon improvements in human rights in Colombia, and not paint a rosy picture simply to secure a trade agreement. U.S. policy must take responsibility for the behavior of Colombian security forces trained with U.S. tax dollars; take into account the continued suffering of the civilian population in the midst of an on-going conflict; and support the rights of victims after a decade of atrocities.

I remain dedicated to the Colombian people; I will never advocate walking away from Colombia.

I also strongly support the right of the Speaker to take up trade agreements when it makes the most sense to do so.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this rule, and to remain engaged with Colombia on these important issues.

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