After a favorable recommendation by the Senate Finance Committee today, the full Senate will begin debate tomorrow on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). A vote on the agreement may come as early as tomorrow and the Senate is widely expected to pass the agreement. The votes of a few Senators that previously were against the agreement, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Jim Jeffords of Vermont, have been secured by the Bush administration after promises were made to cap sugar imports and provide funding for a limited effort to improve labor conditions in CAFTA countries. Despite the fact that these promises have bought off members of the Senate, the sugar industry remains opposed to CAFTA and the labor movement continues to criticize the limited labor protections in CAFTA.
With the Senate likely to pass the agreement, the push to defeat CAFTA will focus primarily on the House of Representatives who will begin debating the treaty some time after the July Fourth recess. The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to vote to bring CAFTA to the floor tomorrow, triggering the 15-day legislative period for a vote allowed under fast-track rules. According to the latest congressional polls, supporters of CAFTA are 16 to 17 votes short of being able to pass the agreement in the House. Civil society groups are cautiously optomistic that CAFTA will be voted down in the House.
The national Stop CAFTA Coalition has issued an action alert for the July 4 recess calling on people concerned with CAFTA to call their legislators, and if possible, meet with them over the recess. In the West Michigan area, Representative Ehlers, who earlier this year failed to take a public stance on CAFTA, has indicated via his staff that he is still undecided on the agreement. The United Steelworkers have setup a toll-free number that can be used to call Representatives in DC, while Ehlers staff can be reached at his local office at 616-451-8383. A script with talking points has been prepared by the national Stop CAFTA Coalition for use during call-ins.
Additional updates on CAFTA as it moves through the legislature will be posted on the Stop CAFTA Campaign site maintained by Media Mouse.
