United States-Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act

Floor Speech

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank my dear friend Mr. Levin for yielding.

It's time for America to negotiate fair trade agreements that create jobs in America and are based on a rule of law, respect for life and liberty before profits for the few.

I rise in opposition to this Colombia deal. It's just another NAFTA-like trade accord that too often are job-killers, people-killers and democracy-killers. This administration promised an agreement with Colombia would not be moved forward until the violence and targeted killings of union leaders and religious leaders stopped.

This is a picture of Father Jose Restrepo, who was found murdered along a roadside in rural Colombia, gunned down as he traveled through the countryside. The week before his murder, Father Restrepo had traveled to Bogota, the capital city there, to raise concerns of his community about the impact of a giant open pit gold mine. Father is one of six Catholic priests killed this year alone in Colombia, in addition to 22 union leaders that have been killed there just since January.

What kind of a deal is this with a nation that has had dozens and dozens and dozens since 2010, 51 people murdered for their trade union activities in Colombia alone?

What is wrong with our country that we cannot stand up for democracy, for human rights, and for job creation in this country?

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