CAFTA

Trade Pact Approved By House
GOP Struggles to Eke Out 217-215 Victory on CAFTA

By Paul Blustein and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, July 28, 2005; Page A01

The House narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement this morning, delivering a hard-fought victory to President Bush while underscoring the nation's deep divisions over trade.

The 217 to 215 vote came just after midnight, in a dramatic finish that highlighted the intensity brought by both sides to the battle. When the usual 15-minute voting period expired at 11:17 p.m., the no votes outnumbered the yes votes by 180 to 175, with dozens of members undeclared. House Republican leaders kept the voting open for another 47 minutes, furiously rounding up holdouts in their own party until they had secured just enough to ensure approval.



House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) wait for President Bush to pass before holding a news conference on CAFTA. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)

CAFTA Roll Call
Final House Vote on Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, H.R. 3045 (THOMAS, Library of Congress)



The House vote was effectively the last hurdle -- and by far the steepest -- facing CAFTA, which will tear down barriers to trade and investment between the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.


CAFTA will have a disastrous effect on the American labor force. No where in this bill does it state that the above countries must practice fair trade. Follow ANY labor law standards or any environmental laws. Basically this Trade Pact gives Carte Blanche to large corporations to exploit foreign workers, get cheap labor, ignore costly environmental protection policies and make HUGE profits at the expense of American jobs.

WOW!!

Way to go!! Pretty soon we will be solely a nation of minimum wage workers with absolutely no medical benefits enslaved to Corporate America.

Amazing!!!