U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Congress on Tuesday to approve pending free trade agreements (FTAs), including one with Colombia, in order to stimulate the U.S. economy and job market.
Clinton addressed U.S military, business and community leaders at the 2011 U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) on Tuesday.
“These nations are three important partners in strategically vital areas. Countries everywhere are watching to see whether America will deliver for our friends and allies. And so, passing these deals is critical to our economic recovery.”
She spoke to the USGLC about the possibility of the FTA to create “a lot of jobs in the United States by enabling us to sell more in third country markets.”
Clinton said that “while our economic competitors are signing bilateral trade deals with countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, the three trade deals now working their way through Congress have the potential to create tens of thousands of new American jobs.”
Bogota and Washington signed a free trade agreement in 2006, but the pact has long been stalled by Democratic objections to Colombia’s human rights records and recently is subject to fighting between Democrats and Republicans over support for American workers.