[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4832]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     COLOMBIAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by associating myself 
with the very eloquent remarks of my colleague from Miami, Mr. Diaz-
Balart.
  Mr. Speaker, you never get a second chance to make a first 
impression, so the old saying goes that we've all heard. Once first 
impressions are made, it can be difficult to reinvent oneself. 
Circumstances may change, but assumptions and perceptions are very 
stubborn things. Just ask any Colombian.
  People became familiar with the country of Colombia in the 1980s and 
the 1990s as the drug wars exploded. We didn't know much about the 
place, but we were familiar with the highlights: Bloody drug wars 
fought in jungles and on the streets of cities like Medellin, Bogota 
and Cali. And although we probably couldn't name many of the elected 
officials in Colombia, everyone knew the name of Pablo Escobar, the 
drug lord.
  But over the course of this decade, a dramatic transformation has 
taken place in Colombia. The rule of gang lords has been replaced by 
the rule of law. The streets have become safe again. Armed terrorist 
organizations no longer operate in huge swaths of the country with 
impunity, and paramilitary groups have been dismantled with their 
leaders having gone to jail.
  Funding for the Colombian Justice Department has nearly doubled, to 
ensure that criminal cases, old and new, are dealt with professionally 
and expeditiously, sending a clear signal that the days of impunity are 
long gone. Poverty has been cut dramatically, while social spending has 
increased. The Colombia of today is unrecognizable to those who knew it 
just a decade ago.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege of being there on several 
occasions and have been amazed by what I have seen. Nowhere is the 
transformation starker than in the city of Medellin. This city was 
ground zero for the Escobar drug cartel. Its murder rate rivaled the 
most dangerous places on the face of the Earth. Terror and violence 
ruled everyday life.
  Today, the city tells an utterly different story. Violence has 
plummeted. New public transportation projects and schools have given 
hope to previously blighted neighborhoods. New jobs and development, 
especially in the apparel industry, have provided a path to that first 
rung of the economic ladder, and greater upward mobility which was 
totally unheard of just a few years ago.
  Mr. Speaker, fair trade and specialty coffee industries have also 
provided new opportunities for well-paying jobs in the area. This 
thriving community is a shining example of the stunning turnaround that 
it has made since 2002.
  And yet much of the world has failed to take notice. While hostages 
and explosions make for front-page headlines, the slow and steady work 
of rebuilding a country is far less flashy. But the very difficult and 
remarkable work that has been done deserves recognizing. Many of us in 
Congress are working hard to solidify the gains that have been made 
through the implication of a free trade agreement. This agreement is 
strongly supported by the private sector unions of Colombia because 
they welcome the jobs and opportunity that the agreement will bring.
  I hope very much that the free trade agreement will be considered 
soon for a vote. But as this debate does go forward, I believe it must 
proceed based on facts, not assumptions, inaccurate perceptions, and 
outdated figures. When we talk about Colombia in the year 2008, we are 
not talking about the Colombia of Pablo Escobar. We are talking about a 
country transformed and on the mend. After the long, difficult struggle 
of the Colombian people, we owe them a little credit and recognition 
for the remarkable things that they have accomplished.

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