[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5568]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           DO NOT REWARD COLOMBIA WITH A FAIR TRADE AGREEMENT

  (Mr. HARE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HARE. Mr. Speaker, if I had been born in Colombia, I would 
probably be dead. As a former president of my labor union, my fight for 
higher wages, better working conditions, and secure pension could have 
cost me my life.
  Thirty-nine trade unionists were murdered in Colombia in 2007, and 
they are being killed at a rate of over one per week this year. Even 
more alarming is only around 3 percent of cases result in convictions, 
illustrating the culture of violence that has existed in Colombia for 
decades. Inexplicably, President Bush wants to reward Colombia with a 
free trade agreement. Not on my watch.
  The right to organize and bargain collectively is essential to human 
freedom and the passage of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement would 
greatly diminish our Nation's reputation as a leader in the fight to 
end human rights abuses worldwide. We should not even consider this 
agreement until Colombia puts a stop to the violence against union 
organizers.

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