Many of us sit in front of our computers today reading this with heavy and/or angered hearts. Our disappointment however, is nothing compared to the suffering set in motion for Central Americans and workers in the US because of this past Wednesday's late night passage of CAFTA.

The debate on the Central American Free Trade Agreement in the House of Representatives lasted two hours with significantly more members speaking in opposition than in favor. A 15-minute vote started at 11:02. When time for the vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement expired at 11:17 p.m., the nays outnumbered the yeas by 180 to 175. But, after leaving the roll open for another hour the leadership had rounded up enough votes to win by 217 to 215. 

Early analysis is that there were definitely some Democrats who voted wrong and some special concern for members from both sides of the aisle who flip-flopped where they stood in the final hours. The good news was that there really were some courageous Republicans (27 of them in fact) who voted NO on the agreement. According to Reuters news service, on Wednesday morning Bush appealed to House Republicans to put aside any "parochial interests" they might have about CAFTA and look at the broader benefits of the pact to the United States and the six other countries. Several other members of the Administration spent the day on the hill lobbying for CAFTA, a highly unusual practice, but one that did seem to garner a few key votes. 

So, yes, our hearts are heavy today- not in the sense of personal defeat or disillusion of the countless hours and hard work of the past two years- but heavy hearts for the future, for those who will feel the very real effects of this unjust trade agreement. As for the past, we did
good work and have every reason to be proud of our efforts. The Administration and House Leadership had to work incredibly hard to un-do our efforts and only succeeded by the smallest possible margin. 

Thank you for being partners in this invaluable struggle for peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas. Thanks in great part to the work of WFP members and others across the hemisphere more people than ever are questioning the model of "free trade" and looking for more positive alternatives.

In the coming days as the sting of defeat dulls, take time to reflect on the people and communities that inspire you the most- may their wisdom in times of adversity help to bolster you in the struggle for justice.

Last night's voting record is below. 

Our work is not done. Every member of Congress will be returning to work in his or her District for the entire month of August. Meet with them in person, thank those who voted right and let those who voted wrong know that you're still paying attention. This next step in holding members accountable for their votes is a key part in making progress for trade justice. Thank you for your sustained efforts throughout our CAFTA work.

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 443
H R 3045 RECORDED VOTE 
28-Jul-2005 
12:03 AM

QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade
Agreement Implementation Act

Republican 202-2-2, Republicans voting NO followed by #
Democratic 15-187, Democrats voting YES followed by *
Independent 1, Followed by a @

TOTAL 217-215-2

---- AYES 217 ---
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Bean*
Beauprez
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Bono
Boozman
Bradley (NH)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Carter
Castle
Chabot
Chocola
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cooper*
Cox
Crenshaw
Cuellar*
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis (KY)
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeLay
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dicks*
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
English (PA)
Everett
Feeney
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Flake
Foley
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Green (WI)
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hinojosa*
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hulshof
Hyde
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jefferson*
Jenkins
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuhl (NY)
LaHood
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Manzullo
Marchant
Matheson*
McCaul (TX)
McCrery
McKeon
McMorris
Meeks (NY)*
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller, Gary
Moore (KS)*
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)*
Murphy
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Northup
Nunes
Nussle
Ortiz*
Osborne
Oxley
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pombo
Porter
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Saxton
Schwarz (MI)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Skelton*
Smith (TX)
Snyder*
Sodrel
Souder
Stearns
Sullivan
Sweeney
Tanner*
Terry
Thomas
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Towns*
Turner
Upton
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

---- NOES 215 ---
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boustany #
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (OH)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capito #
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carson
Case
Chandler
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Coble #
Conyers
Costa
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cubin #
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Ford
Foxx #
Frank (MA)
Garrett (NJ)#
Gonzalez
Goode #
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Gutknecht #
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hostettler #
Hoyer
Hunter #
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jindal #
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (NC) #
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
Kucinich
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
LoBiondo #
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Mack #
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matsui
McCarthy
McCollum (MN)
McCotter #
McDermott
McGovern
McHenry #
McHugh #
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Melancon
Menendez
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (MI)#
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (WI)
Murtha
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Ney #
Norwood #
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Otter #
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul #
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Rehberg #
Reyes
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Salazar
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders @
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz (PA)
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sherman
Simmons #
Simpson #
Slaughter
Smith (NJ) #
Smith (WA)
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Stupak
Tancredo #
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velázquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn

---- NOT VOTING 2 ---
Davis, Jo Ann
Taylor (NC)