Bush asks Congress act fast on Colombia trade deal

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush urged U.S. lawmakers to pass a controversial free trade pact with Colombia "as soon as possible," but did not say when he would submit the agreement to Congress.

"Congress needs to act urgently to approve the Colombian Free Trade Agreement," Bush said, as he was leaving Washington on Monday for summit with NATO leaders.

He also asked Congress to pass other legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration and to provide U.S. intelligence experts with the "tools they need to monitor terrorist communications."

"These are all vital priorities, and I ask members of both parties to get these important pieces of legislation to my desk as soon as possible," Bush said.

Many Democrats, including presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, oppose the Colombia free trade agreement because they say the government still has not done enough to stop murders of trade unionists and jail their killers.

"President Bush just doesn't get it. Our so-called 'courageous ally in South America' is home to the worst violence against union members in the entire world," Rep. Phil Hare, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement.

"Thirty-nine trade unionists were murdered in 2007, and another 10 to date in 2008. Of the more than 2,500 murders of trade unionists since 1986, only 80 cases -- around 3 percent -- have resulted in convictions."

The Bush administration contends that Colombia has made significant progress in reducing violence over the past five years and has warned that rejecting the trade pact would hurt a strong U.S. ally in a volatile region of Latin America.