Progress Illinois

Rep. Phil Hare is all for improving the Trade Adjustment Assistance program (TAA) by expanding benefits to service-sector workers and those displaced because of trade imbalances with countries like China and India. That's why he's excited the Senate Finance Committee may take up a TAA reform bill tomorrow. He's just not too thrilled that Republican leaders are insisting on pairing the legislation with the proposed Colombian free trade agreement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi tabled indefinitely earlier this year. Here's Hare's response:

Let me be clear. I strongly support modernizing TAA. I voted for the House bill and lobbied for many of the provisions in it. My constituents fully understand the real life consequences when bad trade deals are combined with an inadequate safety net for displaced workers.

But the completely unrelated Colombia FTA should remain dead. Trade unionists are being murdered at a rate of one per week in 2008. Yet few if any of the perpetrators are being brought to justice. America should have zero tolerance for this type of violence.

Passing the Colombia agreement—based on the job-killing NAFTA model—would actually force more Americans into TAA while sending a terrible message about our commitment to basic human rights.

Hare is right to fight the Colombian FTA. As he pointed out in April, 39 trade unionists were murdered in Colombia in 2007 and they're being killed at a rate of over one per week this year. What's more, of 2,500-plus murders in the country since 1986, only 68 cases -- around three percent -- have resulted in convictions. Some trading partner, eh?

Instead of pushing through more lobbyist-ridden legislation, Hare suggests Congress take up the TRADE act, which aims to make American trade deals more just and humane:

What Congress should be moving is the TRADE Act— legislation that mandates a review of existing trade agreements and a renegotiation of those agreements if necessary. It also sets the terms of what must be included in future trade deals—including strong, enforceable labor and environmental standards.

The American people are desperate for a new direction on trade—including a modernized TAA. The Colombia FTA simply continues the failed policies of the past. Tying the two measures together is a bad idea any way you cut it.

In an address to the National Federation of Independent Business yesterday, John McCain issued a rejoinder to Barack Obama's recent criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA):

While Mr. Obama has talked of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, Mr. McCain vowed that “in a time of uncertainty for American workers, we will not undo the gains of years in trade agreements.”

What "gains" does McCain have in mind? Perhaps he means the devastation of the Mexican agricultural economy, which has forced farmers to seek greener pastures further north by any means necessary. Or perhaps the loosened environmental and labor standards that most new trade deals include. Or maybe he just means the increased wage inequality (pdf) that trade necessarily creates and that the U.S. hasn't protected against via our withering safety net.

Back in Illinois, Rep. Phil Hare wasted no time blasting McCain on his comments:

“By every objective account, NAFTA has been an abysmal failure. It sent millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs overseas. It increased illegal immigration. It resulted in the importation of unsafe products and food. It lowered the standard of living in Mexico. And most of all, it lined the pockets of multinational corporations at the expense of average American families.

“Despite this failed record, Senator McCain continues to be one of NAFTA’s top cheerleaders. While Senator McCain chides Senator Obama for considering the renegotiation of this failed agreement, the fact is the American people are demanding a new direction on trade.

“Today’s speech makes it clear that a McCain presidency would bring even more hardship for American workers.”

Skeptics of U.S. trade policy are tired of being on the defensive, so they've proposed a forward-thinking piece of legislation called the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act that would make American trade deals more just and humane:

The legislation requires a review of existing trade pacts, including NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, and sets forth what must and must not be included in future trade agreements. It also provides for the renegotiation of existing trade agreements and describes the key elements of a new trade negotiating and approval mechanism to replace Fast Track. The replacement of Fast Track would strengthen Congress’ role in developing and modifying trade agreements

Democratic Rep. Phil Hare from the 17th District, a staunch labor supporter, called it "landmark legislation" and believes it could help revive the nation's manufacturing sector:

"We don’t want to be viewed as just obstructionist,” Hare said. “We can have a trade policy and trade deal that works for” both the U.S. and its trading partners.

It's unclear whether the bill has any shot at passing the current Congress. But its chances would surely increase if Barack Obama -- who has criticized NAFTA throughout the campaign and recently voted against a trade deal with Colombia -- is elected president in the fall. The same can't be said for his Republican nominee, who last month called Obama "a tool of organized labor" for opposing the deal with Colombia, a nation whose labor activists live in fear of death ever day.

Besides implicitly criticizing President Bush for being too lax in pushing our country's completely broken -- and increasingly unpopular -- Cuba policy, John McCain attacked Barack Obama in Florida yesterday for his opposition to the Colombian free trade pact currently being held up in Congress:

McCain also used his visit as an opportunity to criticize Obama for opposing a free trade deal with Columbia that could benefit Florida’s agriculture and manufacturing industries. The pact, blocked by Congress, would eliminate high barriers facing American exports to Columbia. Most Colombian products already enter the U.S. duty-free.

In an interview with local reporters on his campaign bus, McCain said Obama ‘‘is a tool of organized labor ... He’s been against (trade agreements with) Colombia, South Korea and several others. That’s what labor unions want, no free trade agreements.’’

As we've noted before -- and as Rep. Phil Hare emphasized during the debate this spring -- Colombia is not a suitable trading partner for a nation that ostensibly believes in the just treatment of workers. Over the past 21 years, more than 2,534 Colombian unionists have been assassinated with virtually no repercussions. If opposition to state-sponsored violence makes Obama a tool, I'll support the tool every time.

We at Progress Illinois wanted to send some love to 17th District Congressman Phil Hare, who has consistently and vocally been on the right side of the current debate over the proposed Colombia trade pact, a controversial free trade deal that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is slated to shelve indefinitely today.

President Bush, who sent the deal to the House without first reaching consensus with congressional leaders, is bullying Congress to pass the bill because he thinks Colombia will present opportunities for American businesses, will act as "a buffer" against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and will join the fight against terrorists. But Hare, a former factory worker and union official himself, has repeatedly stressed the most important criticism of the deal: the human rights travesties visited upon Colombian labor organizers. Here's his take, with fellow New York Representative Michael Michaud, at the Huffington Post:

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.

Of the more than 2,500 murders in that nation since 1986, only 68 cases -- around 3 percent -- have resulted in convictions. However, many of these criminals were convicted in absentia -- meaning they may still be at large and continuing to terrorize workers.

Yet inexplicably, President Bush and some Members of Congress want to reward Colombia with a free trade agreement.

Not on our watch. The right to organize and bargain collectively is essential to human freedom. We believe passage of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would greatly diminish our nation's reputation as a leader in the fight to end human rights abuses worldwide.

Don't believe him? Check out the widely-circulated data from the Economic Policy Institute, which finds that over the past 21 years, more than 2,534 unionists have been assassinated.