Article: Colombia free trade agreement: economic stimulus we can afford: concerned that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was stalling passage of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, IFA leadership recently circulated an "op-ed" article to major media outlets urging the lawmaker to allow the legislation to move forward. A summary of the message appears here.(FW FOCUS: GOVERNMENT RELATIONS)

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Trade is an integral part of the U.S. economy, accounting for more than one-quarter of U.S. GDP and directly supporting more than 12 million U.S. jobs. In 2007, the export of services by the U.S. totaled $472 billion, or 29 percent of all United States exports. The services sector alone had an export surplus of $104 billion.

It is in the context of these numbers that makes Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's decision to delay the vote on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement so hard to understand.

The speaker's reasoning is so Congress can focus its attention on ways to further stimulate the slowing ...

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