U.S. Democratic Senator Max Baucus denounced Republicans on Thursday for boycotting the meeting that was to push forward the free trade agreement (FTA) process between the U.S. and Colombia.
In response to the action, Baucus, the chairman of the Senate's Finance Committee, said "I'm disappointed that my colleagues have decided not to join together to consider this legislation".
The Democratic Senator added that "instead of participating in a fair and open forum to discuss these agreements, members of this committee opted to block this preliminary vote. The major disappointment is that this boycott will delay the approval of important legislation that will create work".
The session, in which the U.S. Senate Finance Committee was to consider the pending bilateral trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and hold a preliminary vote on the Colombia FTA, was cancelled when Senate Republicans boycotted the meeting.
According to Baucus, the highest ranking Republican Senator on the committee, Orrin Hatch, informed him that "no republican would attend [the Thursday meeting]," in protest of U.S. President Barack Obama's insistence that the extension of trade adjustment assistance (TAA) would be included as part of the agreements.
The TAA is a pro-labor action plan which helps retrain workers displaced by trade.
