As the leading export industry of the nation, the high-tech sector is a strong supporter of free trade and open markets. That is why the current confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration is so alarming.

We believe the Colombia trade agreement is good for our national security and foreign policy as well as for our economy. More important than the deadlock on this agreement itself is that it illustrates how far the United States has strayed from the path of bipartisan commitment to free trade.

Global trade has been and remains vital to the U.S. economy. The extraordinary economic growth after World War II was, in large part, due to the fact that the United States opened itself up to the world. Thoughtful political leaders of both parties understood trade's importance, and chose to subordinate politics to trade. The challenge was always to mitigate harm to some impacted sectors while expanding trade.

We regret several recent developments: the Democratic delay in voting on the Colombia agreement; President Bush's breaking with tradition and sending it to Capitol Hill before House leaders asked for it; the House changing the timetable for voting on trade agreements. A compromise should still be considered, but as the president made clear last week, he would rather pronounce the agreement dead and attack Congress than seek compromise with the House's admittedly escalating demands.

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