Sen. Daniel Akaka‘s office released a statement from the senator explaining why he did not support all three free trade agreements that passed in the House and Senate on Wednesday. 

“While hard-working Americans still struggle to recover from the deepest recession since the Great Depression, I could not support the free trade agreements with Panama and Colombia with the risk that they would make it even more difficult to find a job,” Akaka said. “And Colombia’s horrifying record of the extrajudicial, unpunished killings of labor organizers and the unresponsiveness of its government to the concerns of U.S. policymakers make it undesirable to enter into a free trade agreement.” 

Akaka supported a third trade agreement, with South Korea, calling the country the “gateway to Asia and Hawaii.” The passage of the agreements represents a legislative victory for the Obama administration, which says they pave the way for $1 billion more in U.S. exports annually.