Statement on House Approval of the Korea, Colombia and Panama Free Trade Agreements

By Elizabeth Swager, Assistant Director, Oregon Fair Trade Campaign

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the Korea, Colombia and Panama Free Trade Agreements. The U.S. Senate is expected to do the same later tonight. Elizabeth Swager of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, a statewide coalition of labor, environmental and human rights organizations that opposed the pacts, released this statement:

The majority in Congress have still not heard the message that Americans are through with policies that benefit corporate elites at the expense of ordinary working Americans. The trade deals passed today will negatively effect our economy, environment and democracy for years to come. Hopefully, the growing movement against Wall Street greed and government corruption will be strong enough to hold those who approved these job-killing pacts accountable for their actions.

In voting for the Korea Free Trade Agreement, a pact that even the U.S. International Commission warns will increase the U.S. trade deficit, Congressmen Walden, Blumenauer and Schrader demonstrated just how out of touch they are with the huge numbers of unemployed, underemployed and underpaid men and women of this state. Greg Walden's support for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement is even more heinous, for the role that pact will play in exacerbating the ongoing human rights catastrophe in Colombia. All three also supported the Panama Free Trade Agreement, little more than a Congressional gift to tax dodgers looking to take advantage of the offshore tax haven that Panama offers.

Congressman Peter DeFazio voted against all three of these job-killing trade agreements, and deserves to be commended for siding with ordinary Oregonians over corporate greed. It's also worth noting that, nationally, more than two-thirds of House Democrats voted against the two biggest of the three pacts. Most House Democrats clearly get it, but, unfortunately, too many elected officials still do not — including Representatives Walden, Blumenauer and Schrader.