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    Senior Member jp_48504's Avatar
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    House CAFTA vote a close call (Must Read)

    http://washingtontimes.com/business/200 ... -2980r.htm


    House CAFTA vote a close call

    By Jeffrey Sparshott
    THE WASHINGTON TIMES
    July 5, 2005

    Rep. Bob Inglis has heard from the president, the president's Cabinet, his colleagues, his constituents and businesses in and out of his district.

    The South Carolina Republican knows how they all want him to vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a pact with fierce advocates and opponents who are trying to sway a few undecided House lawmakers.

    "It's an intense situation. It's surely the most lobbied measure since I've been back in Congress," said Mr. Inglis, a soft-spoken legislator who served from 1993 through 1998 and rejoined the House last year.

    CAFTA would have little impact on the U.S. economy, but it has become a politically charged test for the Bush administration and an important battle for industries and interests that stand to prosper or suffer if the agreement becomes law.

    CAFTA would bind the United States, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to a set of rules covering trade and investment. The Senate approved it last week. A House vote is expected after the Independence Day recess, which ends Monday.

    The House vote is too close to call. Forces for and against CAFTA have been using their time to help the undecided -- fewer than 15 Democrats and 30 Republicans -- decide.

    "I'm up there [on Capitol Hill] every single day. And ... we have a grass-roots effort in every state in the country," Christopher Wenk, director of international trade policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, said last week. NAM supports CAFTA.

    "It's just good, old-fashioned nose-to-the-grindstone lobbying," said Lloyd Wood, spokesman for the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition. AMTAC opposes CAFTA.

    There are few arguments that lawmakers have not heard. But some are waiting for answers to specific CAFTA-related questions, for commitments on specific trade-related issues or for promises that may have little apparent connection with the legislation at hand.

    The Bush administration has struck deals with lawmakers from sugar-producing states and offered to budget several million dollars for stepped-up labor rights monitoring in CAFTA countries. Both efforts won over undecided senators.

    Mr. Inglis wants the administration to guarantee that the Central American countries will not become an unintended gateway for textiles and apparel from China. Such a loophole would hurt manufacturers in his district.


    The administration promised "to seek an amendment" to CAFTA that would close any loophole allowing Chinese fabric into the U.S. via Central America. That was enough to win some support, such as that of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, North Carolina Republican, but Mr. Inglis wants the amendment in place, not just the promise.

    "I've been very careful to plant the goal post and not move it," Mr. Inglis said.

    Republicans are likely to target China in an effort to win CAFTA votes. Several members want the administration and Congress to confront the Asian nation over a variety of issues that contribute to a rising tide of imports that compete against American manufacturers.

    "I think you are going to see there are a number of members who have interest in that. And I think you will see a strong package come out ahead of the [CAFTA] vote," said Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas Republican and the administration's CAFTA point man in the House.

    Rep. Phil English, Pennsylvania Republican, is one of the members concerned about China. He voted against CAFTA twice in the House Ways and Means Committee, but some still consider him undecided.

    "I've always voted on the floor as I do in committee. But if something were to change the circumstances, I would certainly consider the bigger picture," Mr. English said.

    Rep. Sherrod Brown, Ohio Democrat and a leader of opposition to the pact, said support for CAFTA is thin, and its opponents are winning the vote count with clear and compelling arguments. But he acknowledged the prowess of the administration and House leadership in winning tight votes.

    "I also know the president is making all kinds of offers, carrots and sticks, for Republican members. The president has opened the taxpayers' bank," Mr. Brown said last week. "If they pass it -- and this is an absolute prediction -- it will be by three or fewer votes, it will be done in the middle of the night and they will do it by holding the roll call open by at least an hour."
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    Senior Member jp_48504's Avatar
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    "I also know the president is making all kinds of offers, carrots and sticks, for Republican members. The president has opened the taxpayers' bank," Mr. Brown said last week. "If they pass it -- and this is an absolute prediction -- it will be by three or fewer votes, it will be done in the middle of the night and they will do it by holding the roll call open by at least an hour."
    That's Right destroy America with our Tax Dollars and do it like a thief in the middle of the night. Evil lurks in the darkness.
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