[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 105 (Thursday, July 14, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5022-H5023]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker and Members of the 
House, very shortly the United States Congress is likely to consider 
three ill-conceived and ill-timed trade agreements that will do nothing 
to create jobs in this country. One of these agreements is with the 
nation of Colombia.
  One of our most important responsibilities as elected officials is to 
promote and protect American jobs and American values. We do this by 
ensuring that those who receive trade preferences respect essential 
democratic rights. These are important rights: the right to speak out 
and protest, the right to organize unions and bargain collectively, and 
the right of citizens to support political efforts to improve their 
economic condition without reprisals.
  Unfortunately, we see what happens when union members in Colombia try 
exercise their rights. Death squads are unleashed against union 
activists and human rights defenders; labor leaders are gunned down in 
broad daylight. This isn't yesterday's news. The intimidation and 
violence continue to this day. There have been 17 confirmed killings of 
unionists in Colombia this year, according to a human rights group. 
Last year, 90 unionists were murdered worldwide, 49 of them in 
Colombia. Colombia unionists face the highest rates of murder anywhere 
in the world.
  To overcome longstanding objections to passage of the Colombia free 
trade agreement, President Santos of Colombia and President Obama 
signed a Labor Action Plan on April 7. The plan includes deadlines for 
new laws that could enable workers to form unions as a means to advance 
social progress in Colombia. This plan has deadlines to restrict the 
use of cooperatives that allow employers to evade bargaining directly 
with their workers. It calls for new labor enforcement agencies and the 
hiring of additional inspectors.
  On the one hand, the labor action plan has important elements that 
are necessary and valuable, and President Santos is to be commended for 
advancing this initiative; however, there are major gaps in the action 
plan. There are no benchmarks to show whether or not the new laws on 
paper have translated into laws on the ground. Will workers have 
greater ability to exercise their rights, to organize, to bargain 
collectively, and to negotiate contracts directly with their employers? 
Will levels of violence and murders against trade unionists be 
substantially reduced? Will employers and companies that violate the 
rights of workers be punished, as prescribed under the new laws?
  We don't know if these are merely gains on paper or if they are real. 
And based upon the accelerated schedule, it appears we won't be given a 
chance to learn if there will be real change on the ground before we 
consider the trade agreement with Colombia.
  Any trade agreement with Colombia must produce a verifiable reduction 
in the violence. It must protect human rights. It must end the impunity 
enjoyed by death squads and paramilitaries. Due to the lack of 
benchmarks for progress, Colombia could still have a record year of 
assassinations and the action plan would be declared a success.

[[Page H5023]]

  Under the plan, the Colombian Government is supposed to be providing 
expanded physical protections for union activists. I met with regional 
and national union leaders last month who told me that little has 
changed on the ground. They told me they haven't received protection.
  The action plan calls for hiring additional labor inspectors over the 
next 4 years to enforce these new laws. There's a program to relocate 
teachers who have received death threats. There is a program to address 
the backlog of thousands of union homicide cases that have yet to be 
prosecuted. And there is no assurance that the actions will be carried 
out.
  Last week, the Ways and Means Republicans opposed efforts to require 
Colombia to meet its obligations under the action plan as of the date 
the free trade agreement goes into force. Without this provision, the 
U.S. has no leverage to assure implementation of the labor action plan. 
Maybe that is what the multinational corporations pushing this deal 
want. And since the agreement is being brought to the floor under fast 
track, Congress will not be able to consider amendments to make the 
action plan enforceable.
  Given this predicament, the least the administration can do is to 
stand behind its own action plan. The implementing legislation should 
require Colombia to fully comply with the plan before the agreement 
takes effect. The administration should confirm that compliance through 
on-the-ground consultations with labor and human rights organizations. 
Without real change on the ground, this trade agreement is not fair to 
Colombian workers. They deserve their basic right not to be subjected 
to threats and murder because they demand a better life.
  This agreement does not fairly represent our Nation's values, and 
it's fundamentally unfair to America's workers. They can't compete with 
workers who face death squads for wanting better working conditions. 
They can't compete with a country that continues to allow thousands of 
assassins to operate with impunity. It's past time that we, as a 
Nation, stand up for American values and American workers.

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