Administration Trying to Build
CAFTA Majority Vote by Vote
At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans yesterday, Rep. Bill Thomas (Calif.) sidled up to the lectern and hinted that the leadership might look more favorably on lawmakers' requests for highways and bridges if they vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, according to three GOP witnesses. According to administration and House aides, the White House has authorized Republican leaders to secure votes with whatever is at hand, from amendments to the highway and energy bills to the still incomplete annual appropriations bills. Side deals may be in the works on textiles and sugar. House leaders have even approved a vote on a slate of punitive China trade provisions that risks alienating a trading partner that dwarfs Central America.
Posted by Editor at July 22, 2005 06:34 AM
