In news from Washington, President Bush has announced he will soon ask Congress to approve a trade agreement with Colombia. Bush said the need for this deal is too urgent to delay.

President Bush: “This agreement will advance America’s national security interests in a critical region. It will strengthen a courageous ally in our hemisphere. It will help America’s economy and America’s workers at a vital time. It deserves bipartisan support from the United States Congress.”

Once the trade deal is submitted to Congress, legislators have ninety business days to approve or reject it. Labor unions and human rights organizations have been pushing Congress to reject the treaty, in part because Colombia has the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world. According to Human Rights Watch, seventeen trade unionists have been killed in Colombia in the first three months of this year. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both publicly opposed the deal. But it was revealed last week that Clinton’s top strategist had been hired by the Colombian government to lobby for the trade deal. The adviser, Mark Penn, CEO of the lobbying firm Burson-Marsteller, stepped down from his post after it was disclosed that he had personally met with Colombia’s ambassador.