Citing declining U.S. prestige overseas, Democratic presidential candidates are vowing to restore America’s respect abroad by ending the “go it alone” policy of the current White House.

Congressional Democrats blame the administration for the current economic downturn, promising they will create jobs in America rather than overseas and “level the playing field” for U.S. workers vying to compete in an increasingly global market.

Given all that rhetoric, why is this Congress so willing to promote economic isolationism, handcuff one of our strongest economic sectors and prevent U.S. workers from selling their products and services overseas? Why is this Congress so eager to let foreign countries freely sell their products into America — competing against our workers — while balking at allowing our workers to do the same?

With its refusal to take up pending agreements with long-standing trading partners Colombia, South Korea and Panama, this Congress risks squandering the bipartisan progress on trade accomplished last year that, as a first step, generated record support for two-way trade with Peru.

Worse yet, at a time when the entire world is shaping the global market to create new opportunities and new customers for their companies and their workers, the U.S. Congress is benching itself. This undermines America’s leadership abroad and sends the wrong signal that the world’s greatest economy is afraid to compete — unwilling to tear down the artificial barriers that can help lift millions of the world’s poor out of poverty.

We can do better than this. And must.

Constituents are disgusted at gridlock in Washington and growing outraged with an increasingly irrelevant Congress. Voters will not tolerate Capitol Hill leaders — of either party — who sacrifice 2008 to political expediency or hide behind the time-worn excuse of a presidential election year.

Congress should act now, decisively, to reassert America’s leadership abroad, build stronger bridges to our allies in the Western Hemisphere and Asia, create jobs here at home and begin to speak as one voice when it comes to trade policy.   

• Announce a 2008 schedule for up-and-down votes on the three pending trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama. Then stick to it.

Colombia and Panama are long-standing trade partners with growing economies that already sell their products into our country. Both have made tremendous progress on democracy, labor rights and rule of law. Colombia is in the midst of its own war against terrorist violence and remains a staunch U.S. ally in a neighborhood that is increasingly unstable and anti-American.

Former Democratic and Republican secretaries of state have urged this Congress not to turn its back on Colombia at this critical juncture, predicting a disastrous foreign policy mistake with long term consequences to America. Once South Korea fixes its beef issue — and it must — that agreement offers new access to millions of potential customers for American agriculture, business and services companies.

• Stimulate the American economy the right way.

It’s no longer enough to simply Buy American; we must Sell American as well. Congress can’t afford to call time-out on seeking new opportunities to sell U.S. products and services throughout the world. Today, due to aggressive efforts by our international competitors, when U.S. companies try to compete overseas they find that three times more of the world is tilted against them due to nation-to-nation and regional trade agreements that exclude the United States.

How is that fair to American firms and workers?

When America insists that it have the economic freedom to buy, sell and compete in the global marketplace, it works to our advantage. Nearly one-quarter of our current economic growth is attributable to trade. Our relatively few trade agreement partners are becoming our best customers — buying nearly half of all that America sells abroad. Just one year into the DR-CAFTA agreement, our $1.3 billion trade deficit with Central America has turned into a $3.7 billion surplus. Even the whipping boy of NAFTA has been proven to create jobs in America, increase hourly wages and improve the net worth of middle-class American families.

In a major shift early last year, the growth of American exports exceeded the rate of growth of American imports — including with China. We’re selling faster than we are buying — and that was before the dollar declined. The trade compass is undeniably pointed the right direction. We need to keep it there.

Let’s stimulate the U.S. economy the right way by not only passing the pending agreements but sending a signal to Doha negotiators that we welcome — no, insist on — lower global trade barriers in services, agriculture and industrial sectors.

Congressional leaders should make it clear by their actions that we have a bipartisan agreement on trade. We are not retreating from our commitment to opening doors to trade, prosperity for developing nations and economic engagement. And let’s come together in a thoughtful strategy to resolve our trade disputes with China to our satisfaction, and in a way that doesn’t risk a boomerang of economic pain on American family budgets and our economy.

Let’s be smart about trade. Let’s be smart about jobs. Let’s look beyond November and recognize that this year — 2008 — is the year to act.

Brady is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.