WASHINGTON — Defying the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday the House will change its rules to avoid a required vote this year on a free-trade agreement with Colombia.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said the change would remove the timetable that says Congress must take up trade bills within 90 legislative days after they are received from the White House. She intended to bring the rule proposal to the full House today.
“The president took action” in submitting the deal Tuesday, she said. “I will take mine tomorrow.”
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Pelosi was trying to do something “unprecedented in the history of negotiating trade deals in announcing that Democrats would change the rules in the middle of the game.”
Removing the timetable sets an awful precedent “for all future administrations, both Republicans and Democrats, because countries will not be able to have faith in our word when we’re negotiating trade deals,” Perino said.
The White House says helping an important ally in South America is in the political and security interests of the United States. Perino accused Democrats of trying to kill the deal “without having to have their fingerprints on it.”
Most Democrats, backed by organized labor and some human rights groups, are against the Colombia deal. They have cited violence against union organizers in Colombia and have made clear they will not consider further agreements until legislation is passed to expand current programs to help American workers displaced by foreign trade.
“Our focus on Colombia is the continuing violence against trade unionists,” said Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s legislative director. He said he thought Pelosi’s action effectively would stop any action on the agreement this year.
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