[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5895]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
      SUPPORTING COLOMBIA, AMERICA'S BEST FRIEND IN LATIN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELLER of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise to express concern 
about an action taken by the majority of this House this past week.
  When the question is often asked, who is America's best friend in 
Latin America, no matter where you are in Latin America, they always 
say the democratically-elected government of Colombia is America's best 
friend.
  This last week, the House of Representatives voted to turn its back 
on America's best friend. At a time when the autocrats threaten 
democracy, when democracy is at risk in Latin America by those who 
threaten it, such as the President of Venezuela, this Congress, this 
House, voted to turn its back on Latin America's oldest democracy, 
America's best friend in Latin America.
  If you think about it, who else is Colombia? Colombia is also 
America's most reliable and strongest partner when it comes to 
addressing terrorism and addressing narcotics. Colombia has been there.
  President Uribe, the President of Colombia, today is the most popular 
elected President in the entire hemisphere. This Congress has a 15 
percent approval rating with the American people. Fifteen, 1-5 percent. 
President Uribe has 80 percent approval ratings with his own people. 
Why? Because he was elected to reduce violence. He was elected to bring 
security to his country, and today 73 percent of the Colombian people 
have said in a recent opinion poll that they feel more secure in 
Colombia. Seventy-two percent in that same poll said they believe 
President Uribe is making progress and at the same time protecting 
human rights. So President Uribe has made tremendous progress.
  Today, violence has been reduced, kidnapping is down, murder rates 
are down. In fact, it is safer to walk the streets of Bogota, Colombia, 
or Medellin, once known as the most dangerous city in all the world, 
than it is to walk the streets of Washington, DC.
  President Uribe with Plan Colombia and the support of his own people 
has made tremendous progress. They are reliable partners, reliable 
friends. And last week this House voted to turn its back on the 
democratically-elected government of Colombia. Think what message that 
sends to Latin America, about how the United States House of 
Representatives respects and treats our friends in Latin America.
  We have before us a trade promotion agreement with Colombia. It is a 
good agreement. My friend and colleague from Ohio says it is all about 
oil. We don't need a trade agreement to buy oil from Colombia. In fact, 
right now Colombian products, manufactured goods and farm products 
enter the United States duty free. There are no taxes on their imports. 
But U.S. products, such as construction equipment, the bulldozers that 
could be used in mining and various other economic projects in 
Colombia, face 15 percent tariffs. Our corn and soybeans and livestock 
products face tariffs of up to 40 percent, but Colombian agricultural 
products enter the United States duty free. We need a trade promotion 
agreement with Colombia to even the playing field.
  We often hear from folks back home, you know, we need trade 
agreements that are fair and where we treat each other equally, so if 
they get access to our market, we get access to their's. Well, under 
the status quo, they have that. We need this agreement so we get access 
to their market.
  Some say Colombia is not very important. Well, there are 42 million 
people there. It is the second largest Spanish-speaking Nation in the 
world. It is America's best friend. But we have a good agreement before 
us.
  Some have said we need to oppose this agreement because there has 
been violence against union activists. The Uribe government has 
acknowledged that. In fact, they have done some incredible things. They 
have increased the budget for prosecution of violent acts by 72 
percent. They have added almost 2,200 prosecutors and lawyers and 
others for the Prosecutor General to go after those who commit violent 
crimes.
  When it comes specifically to labor leaders in Colombia, as the 
Washington Post has pointed out, the murder rate for labor leaders in 
Colombia is actually lower than the national murder rate, and any 
murder is unacceptable, whether it is here in Washington, DC or Bogota.
  The bottom line is, Colombia is our friend. This House voted to turn 
its back on our best friend. We need to move forward on the U.S.-
Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. We should bring that forward and 
give our best friend in Latin America what they deserve. They have 
earned it.

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