Action Alert: CAFTA vote count--the pressure is on

[Guest guest]

This vote is not only crucial in terms of saving our rights to vitamins and supplements--but to save out hemisphere from being locked into complete neoliberal corporate control...

 

You can bet your booties they are going to bring out the 'big guns' for this---WE MUST KEEP UP THE PRESSURE!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action Alert: CAFTA vote countJuly 21, 2005"With just two weeks to go until the August recess, Republican House leaders are possibly facing do-or-die time for the Central America Free Trade Agreement(CAFTA). The Republican whip operation is running at full throttle, making deals onChina policy and textile production at a fast clip in the hopes of wooing just enoughmembers off the fence to pass the pivotal trade pact." (The Hill newspaper, July 20, 2005)Yes, time is running out. Closed-door deals are being made. Arms are beingtwisted. Pressure builds as not-so-subtle taxpayer-funded bribes are offered."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 onlawmakers’ requests for highways and bridges

if they vote for the Central AmericanFree Trade Agreement, according to three GOP witnesses." (The Washington Post,July 21, 2005)In other words, "Want that highway project back home? You had better vote forCAFTA. Want that new bridge? You had better vote for CAFTA even though youknow it is bad for America."One of the first House members to be bought off was Congressman Phil English(R-Penn.). Mr. English had always opposed CAFTA, but just a few days ago he soldout. He now says he is "comfortable" voting for CAFTA. This puts the pro-CAFTAforces one critical vote closer to having the 218 votes they need to pass it in the U.S.House.What's the vote count? According to Congress Daily, 105 House members will vote"yes" or are leaning to vote "yes" on CAFTA with 166 members who will vote "no" orare leaning to vote "no." That leaves 163 House members who are undecided

oraren't saying. To stop CAFTA, we must convince at least 53 of those 163 membersto vote against CAFTA.The House will likely vote on CAFTA Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Thevote will be extremely close -- just like the vote was on the Medicare prescription-drug bill where House leaders were willing to resort to bribes and out-right threats to win."According to the administration and House aides, the White House has authorizedRepublican leaders to secure votes with whatever is at hand, from amendments[read pork-barrel projects in their respective districts] to the highway and energy bills to the still incomplete appropriations bills." (The Washington Post, July 21, 2005)So, between now and next week, the pro-CAFTA forces are working overtime.Deals are being made on highway projects, bridges, committee chairmanships, rideson Air Force One, dinners at the White House, campaign contributions, andcountless

pork projects that have nothing whatsoever to do with CAFTA or true freetrade.Faced with all this, what can we do? Representatives who change their vote tosupport CAFTA in return for the promise of pork-barrel projects in their district orrides on Air Force One think they will impress the voters back home by "bringinghome the bacon." You are that voter back home. It's up to you. Are you impressedOnly hearing from you can convince your representative that politics as usual won’twork this time. In fact, it stinks.Will you let your representative know there will be a price to pay for selling out? Youdo that when you contact his office and let him know you are informed and watching.That’s the only language most of our elected officials seem to understand.And that's why what you do right now is so important.Do you want to know where your U.S. representative stands on CAFTA? Check

therecent Congress Daily vote check posted at http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/caftavotecount.htm .Now take action. If your representative is against CAFTA, tell him "thank you, don'tbend under pressure, I support you!" If he is for CAFTA, urge him to change hismind -- it is important you make it clear that you oppose CAFTA.If your representative is undecided, convince him to vote against it and tell him no matter what payoff he might be offered, there is nothing worth the damage CAFTAwill do to America.CAFTA can be defeated in the U.S. House next week, but you must act. More thanever, what you do matters.Send an E-mail message to your U.S. representative by going to http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/alert/?alertid=7860311 & type=CO .Then call your U.S.

representative. The U.S. Capitol switchboard phone number is202-224-3121 or use our directory at http://capwiz.com/liberty/dbq/officials/ .Also, please spread the word. Share a copy of this message by forwarding thismessage.Thank you for your help!Kent SnyderThe Liberty Committee

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Where They Stand On CAFTAQuestion: How do House members intend to vote on theCentral America Free Trade Agreement when it comes to the floor?

 

 

 

 

REPUBLICANSYesBarton, Bass, Beauprez, Biggert, Blunt, Boehner, Bonilla, Bono, Bradley, Brady,Burton, Calvert, Cannon, Cantor, Carter, Castle, Chocola, Cole, Conaway, Cox,G. Davis, T. Davis, DeLay, L. Diaz-Balart, Doolittle, Drake, Dreier, Ferguson, Flake,Fortenberry, Goodlatte, Harris, Hastert, Hastings, Hayworth, Hensarling, Herger,yde, N. Johnson, S. Johnson, T. Johnson, Keller, Kennedy, S. King, Kirk, Kline,Knollenberg, Kolbe, LaHood, Latham, R. Lewis, Linder, Lungren, Marchant, McCaul,McCrery, McKeon, Myrick, Neugebauer, Northup, Nussle, Oxley, Pence, Pitts,Porter, Pryce, Radanovich, Ramstad, Reichert, Ros-Lehtinen, Ryan, Ryun, Sessions,Shaw, Shays, Shimkus, L. Smith, Thomas, Tiahrt, Weller, Westmoreland, Wickerand H. Wilson. (83)Leaning YesAkin, Boozman, Culberson, Cunningham, Dent, Gilchrest, Gohmert, Granger,Istook, Leach, J. Lewis, Lucas, Pearce, Poe, Schwarz,

Shadegg and Terry. (17)NoCubin, Foxx, Goode, Hunter, Jones, Kingston, LaTourette, McHenry, Norwood,Otter, Paul, Rehberg, M. Rogers (Ala.), Simpson, Souder, Sullivan, Tancredo,Taylor and J. Wilson. (19)Leaning NoAderholt, Barrett, bonner, Brown-Waite, Coble, Foley, Hayes, McCotter andSimmons. (9)UndecidedBartlett, Bilirakis, Blackburn, Brown, Camp, Crenshaw, M. Diaz-Balart, Duncan,Ehlers, Emerson, English, Everett, Feeney, Fitzpatrick, Forbes, Franks, Gerlach,Gibbons, Gillmor, Gingrey, Green, Gutknecht, Hefley, Hobson, Hoekstra, Inglis,Kuhl, Mack, McHugh, McMorris. G. Miller, J. Miller, Murphy, Musgrave, Osborne,Petri, Pickering, Putnam, Rohrabacher, Sensenbrenner, Sodrel, Upton, Walden,Walsh, C. Weldon, Wamp, Whitfield and D. Young. (48)Declined to AnswerBuyer, Garrett, Issa, Nunes, Platts, Regula, Tibert, Turner and Wolf. (9)No

Response by PresstimeAlexander, Bachus, Baker, Bishop, Boehlert, Boustany, Bergess, Capito, Chabot,J. Davis, Deal, Fosella, Frelinghuysen, Gallegly, Graves, Hall, Hart, Hostettler,Hulshof, Jenkins, Jindal, Kelly, P. King, LoBiondo, Manzullo, Mica, C. Miller, Moran,Ney, Peterson, Pombo, Price, Renzi, Reynolds, Rogers, Mike Rogers (Mich.),Royce, Saxton, Sherwood, Shuster, C. Smith, Stearns, Sweeney, Thornberry,D. Weldon and C.W. Young. (46)DEMOCRATSYesCuellar, Dicks, Jefferson, Moran and Tanner. (5)Leaning YesNone. (0)NoAbercrombie, Allen, Baird, Baldwin, Barrow, Becerra, Berry, Blumenauer, Boucher,Brady, C. Brown, S. Brown, Capps, Capuano, Cardin, Cardoza, Carnahan, Case,Cleaver, Costello, Crowley, Cummings, A. Davis, DeFazio, Delahunt, DeLauro,Dingell, Doggett, Engle, Evans, Farr, Fattah, A. Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Harman,Hastings, Herseth, Higgins, Hinchey,

Holden, Holt, Honda, Hooley, Jackson,Johnson, Jones, Kaptur, P. Kennedy, Kildee, Kind, Kucinich, Lantos, Larsen, Lee,Levin, Lewis, Lynch, Maloney, Markey, Marshall, Matsui, McCollum, McDermott,McGovern, McIntyre, McKinney, McNulty, Meehan, Meek, Melancon, Michaud,G. Miller, Mollohan, G. Moore, Nadler, Napolitano, Neal, Oberstar, Obey, Olver,Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor, Pelosi, Peterson, Pomeroy, Rahall, Rangel, Ross,Roybal-Allard, Ryan, Sabo, Salazar, Linda Sanchez, Schakowsky, Schiff, Schwartz,B. Scott, Serrano, Slaughter, Smith, Solis, Spratt, Stark, Strickland, Stupak,Tauscher, Taylor, B. Thompson, Tierney, Towns, M. Udall, T. Udall, Van Hollen,Visclosky, Woolsey, Weiner, Wexler and Wu. (121)Leaning NoAckerman, Baca, Berman, Boren, Butterfield, Carson, Clyburn, Langevin, McCarthy,B. Miller, Payne, D. Price, Rothman, Loretta Sanchez, Watson and Watt.

(16)UndecidedBean, Berkley, S. Bishop, T. bishop, Clay, Cooper, Costa, D. Davis, J. Davis,L. Davis, S. Davis, Doyle, Edwards, Hinojosa, Inslee, Israel, Kilpatrick, Meeks,D. Moore, J. Murtha, Ortiz and Snyder. (22)Declined to AnswerChandler, DeGette, Eshoo, Frank, Kanjorski, Lofgren, Lowey, Matheson, Menendez,Reyes, D. Scott, Sherman, Skelton, M. Thompson, Wasserman Schultz andWynn. (16)No Response by PresstimeAndrews, Boswell, Boyd, Conyers, Cramer, Emmanuel, Etheridge, Filner, Ford,Gonzales, Gordon, Hoyer, Jackson Lee, Larson, Lipinski, Millender-McDonald,Owens, Ruppersberger, Rush, Velazquez, Waters and Waxman. (22)TOTALSYes/Leaning Yes:

105No/Leaning No: 165Undecided: 70Declined to Answer/No Response 93Note: In addition to the partisan tallies above, the House's one independent, Rep.Bernie Sanders of Vermont, plans to vote "no." Also, Ohio's 2nd district is vacantdue to the resignation of Republican Rep. Rob Portman to become U.S.

traderepresentative.Source: National Journal/Congress Daily, Tuesday, July 19, 2005