[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26342]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
express my strong support for enacting a free trade agreement with our 
strongest ally in Latin America, and that is Colombia.
  In May, the House leadership brokered an agreement with the 
administration to pass the Peru, Colombia, Panama, and South Korea Free 
Trade Agreements, in that order, Mr. Speaker. And, actually, I am very 
pleased to see that the House Ways and Means Committee took action this 
week on the Peru Free Trade Agreement. I think it's a great step in the 
right direction. However, I am concerned about the apparent lack of 
support from the House leadership for a Colombia Free Trade Agreement, 
an agreement that publicly was committed to by the House leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that this Congress pass a Colombia Free 
Trade Agreement. Excluding our strongest ally in Latin America from 
preferential trade treatment would send a devastating message to the 
region. That message would be that if you are a strong ally, the 
strongest ally of the United States, if you are willing to stand up to 
anti-American dictators like Mr. Hugo Chavez, and if you are willing to 
fight the narcoterrorists, this United States Congress will not support 
you.
  A free trade agreement with Colombia would not only help further 
bolster the Colombian economy and help show our strong support for 
their efforts in fighting the war on drugs, it would also help the U.S. 
economy by opening up our business to this huge democracy, this huge 
export market.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot send the world the message that if you support 
the United States, if you are willing to stand up even against our 
enemies, that this United States Congress will not stand with you. 
Please, let's not slight the Colombian people and their democracy.
  I urge the Democratic leadership and the House Ways and Means 
Committee, Mr. Speaker, to bring forward a Colombia Free Trade 
Agreement.

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