The lawmakers and the activists, he implied, operate behind a flawed line of reasoning. It talks of workers, while it opposes a major source of new jobs. It talks of the environment while opposing the wealth-creating policies that will pay for clean air and water in developing nations. It talks of the disadvantaged, even as it offers ideas that would keep many of the poor in poverty. It is a moral imperative.
Open trade creates jobs for the unemployed.
Besides asking for trade promotion authority, Bush would commit the United States to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with Jordan and Singapore. Chile, Bush said Monday, provides a valuable example for why the administration must stay atop trade developments. Free trade talks are being negotiated all over the world, and we are not a party to them. CNN's Ian Christopher McCaleb and John King contributed to this report. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.