As President Barack Obama prepared a State of the Union speech that would focus on the economy and job creation,supporters of pending trade deals with Panama and Colombia leapt into action. Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzón came to Washington this week to ask Congress to ratify the trade deal. With a Republican majority rekindling interest in trade, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the pending free trade agreements (FTA) on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Obama made reference to pursuing the two pacts, but his speech fell short of laying out a timetable for passing the Colombia and Panama FTAs.