Key Republicans on the CAFTA vote: Contact them! CAFTA must be defeated! [View All]

[arcos]

These is the list of key Republican representatives who are either opposed or undecided on CAFTA. Quite a few come from sugar and textiles producing ststes, and they are being pressured by the GOP leadership and the White House to vote yes. Political parties in Central America say that US Representatives are being offered all types of pork and projects in their states to get them to vote aye.

The vote on CAFTA will be VERY close, and some people are expecting that if they don't have the votes they will keep voting open for several hours in order to change minds with threats and offers. These names of GOP congresspersons appeared in the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación (the most influential in the country)... basically, the fate of CAFTA is in their hands. The White House needs only 15 more votes in order to approve CAFTA, and they will probably be able to find them in these 40 Republicans.

An interesting article re: CAFTA...

<b>For CAFTA, Party Pressure and Pork</b>
Earlier this month, at a closed-door meeting of Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) was blunt: Any Democrat who votes for the Central American Free Trade Agreement will allow an embattled Republican to squirm off the hook and vote no. A vote for CAFTA, she said, was a vote to keep the GOP in the majority.

It was a speech that was tough enough to make the party's free-traders cringe, said Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), but both parties are treating the coming showdown over CAFTA like a political donnybrook. Democratic leaders are leaning hard on members to keep defections to a tiny minority, while the Bush administration considers major concessions on sugar crop subsidies and China trade.
<snip>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101446.html



Now, the list of GOP swing votes on CAFTA:

Alabama
Terry Everett
Robert Aderholt

Alaska
Don Young

California
Duncan Hunter
Richard Pombo

Colorado
Thomas Tancredo
Joel Hefley
Bob Beauprez

Florida
Michael Bilirakis
Mario Díaz-Balart
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Cliff Steams
Adam Putnam
John Mica

Georgia
Nathan Deal
Jack Kingston
Charles Norwood

Idaho
C.L. Butch Otter
Mike Simpson

Indiana
Steve Buyer
John Hostettler

Maryland
Roscoe Barlett

Michigan
Peter horkstra
Dave Camp
Candice Miller

Minnessota
Gil Gutknecht

Missouri
Todd Akin

New Jersey
Frank LoBiondo


North Carolina
Robin Hayes
Howard Coble
Walter Jones
Charles Taylor
Richard Burr

Ohio
Steven LaTourette
Bob Ney
Ralph Regula


South Carolina
Joe Wilson
Gresham Barret

Tennessee
John Duncan

Texas
Ron Paul

Utah
Rob Bishop

Virginia
Virgil Goode

You can find the addresses here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir
(sorry, they are too many to copy and paste :()