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Ranchers.net

House passes CAFTA
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 6:02 AM

by Bob Meyer

After an all-out push by the Administration, the House approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) early Thursday morning, 217-215. President Bush was on the Hill Wednesday, working to drum up support; Vice President Cheney, two Cabinet Secretaries and the U.S. Trade Representative were all working the Capitol through the night. In the end, 25 Republicans defied their leadership, and their president, to oppose CAFTA, while two others didn't vote. Only 15 of the House's 202 Democrats broke ranks to support it. House leaders held the vote open for an hour -- well past the normal 15-minute voting time -- as they rounded up enough votes to win. The agreement, which passed the Senate in June, will eliminate trade barriers between the United States and five Central American countries -- Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica -- along with the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.
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