Senate to Set Date for CAFTA Vote as USTR Considers Amending CAFTA Text
May 06, 2005
According to this week's issue of Inside US Trade, the Senate Finance Committee is preparing to set a date for considering a draft bill supporting CAFTA in order to break through what the article calls a "stalemate" in Congress. Unnamed sources in the article say that the Committee wants a vote before the July 4 recess in order to move forward consideration of CAFTA in the House. At the current time, House Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Bill Thomas is waiting until the Senate Finance Committee acts before moving ahead. It is also believed that a whip count in the House (a private poll conducted by party leaders in which the positions of individual legislators are categorized as "yes," "no," "leaning yes," "leaning no," "no," "undecided," or non-responsive) will not happen until the Senate acts. The House committee is waiting in order to avoid passing a different bill, which would necessitate a Conference Committee, and slow ratification. The Bush administration would like to avoid a Conference Committee, as they would like to have CAFTA in the public eye for as short a time as possible.
Meanwhile, US Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman has offered to seek a change in the CAFTA response to a request from North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole. Portman has said that the would be willing to work on an amendment to the text that would require pockets and certain linings of textiles to be made in the countries included in CAFTA in order to receive duty preferences. This amendment would require a change to the CAFTA text as well as some legislative changes in countries that have already ratified the agreement. While the USTR denies that its efforts are related to an upcoming meeting by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) at which the group will decide if it will endorse CAFTA, an NCTO endorsement may guarantee six to twelve additional votes for the agreement--votes that CAFTA supporters desperately need.