Globalization and TradePosted by sasha at 27 Jul 2005 10:15 pm
After an all-day, full-court press by the White House, the House early Thursday narrowly approved the controversial Central America Free Trade Agreement, avoiding a potentially embarrassing political defeat for President Bush on an issue he championed for months.The final vote to approve the pact was 217 to 215. 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.
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.