WASHINGTON — The House voted late Wednesday to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement, handing President Bush a hard-fought victory on a measure with limited economic effects but large political consequences.
CAFTA, approved 217 to 215 after about three hours of contentious debate and a roll call that lasted longer than an hour, will remove most trade barriers between the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
The trade pact was approved by the Senate last month, 54 to 45. Most of its provisions take effect immediately; the rest will be phased in over 20 years.
The late-night House vote capped weeks of high-pressure lobbying and deal-making by Bush administration officials, Republican leaders in Congress and outside business groups who viewed CAFTA's approval as essential to advancing U.S. commercial interests, foreign policy goals and GOP political objectives.
"CAFTA is a little trade agreement with small economic consequences for our country," Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) said shortly before the roll was called. "But it is a huge national security issue with enormous implications for our entire foreign policy."
The measure was fiercely opposed by most congressional Democrats and some Republicans who considered its labor and environmental provisions lacking and who saw the pact as emblematic of problems associated with globalization, including U.S. job losses and China's economic gains.
"It is a step backward for workers in Central America, and a job-killer here at home," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). The agreement "hurts U.S. workers ... and fails to protect the environment," she said.
Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield), the Ways and Means Committee chairman who steered the bill through the House, said the near-unanimous opposition of Democrats would help the Republican Party solidify its political gains of recent years.
"I wondered when this moment would come. Apparently it comes tonight," Thomas said before declaring an end to debate. "Tonight ... we mature into a permanent majority. We will lead. We will be progressive. We will help our neighbors."
Supporters acknowledged that CAFTA's economic impact would be relatively small. Total two-way trade between the United States and the six other CAFTA countries is $32 billion a year, a tiny slice of America's $11-trillion economy.
