Bush: Trade Key to US Recovery

Prez urges quick action on international deals, offers help to affected workers
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 31, 2008 11:21 AM CST
Bush: Trade Key to US Recovery
President Bush waves upon arrival Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008, in San Francisco, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)   (Associated Press)

Saying "free trade means good-paying jobs for Americans," President Bush yesterday urged Congress to approve proposed deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, the core of a trade agenda he feels can revitalize a shaky US economy. Bush also offered to help lawmakers reshape benefits for workers who lose jobs to foreign competition, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Bush, on the second day of a three-day trip to promote the agenda he proposed Monday in the State of the Union address, said the Senate needed to act quickly on the $150 billion economic stimulus plan. “We’re obviously in a slowdown,” he during a stop in California. Bush plans to address terrorism today in Las Vegas. (More free trade stories.)

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