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July 25, 2006

Oman Deal Passes By Narrow Margin

OFTA passed by the narrow margin of 221-205 in the House of Representatives this past Thursday. But, the fight over the deal has had significant political and policy effect. This vote on top of last year's CAFTA vote will have serious repercussions come election time in November. A number of candidates challenged their incumbent opponents to oppose the deal but only 28 of 232 Republicans did so, while only 22 out of 202 Democrats supported the retrograde deal.

Dear Fair Trade Supporter,
Thank you for all of your efforts to stop the misguided U.S. Oman Free Trade Agreement (OFTA).
President Bush and the Republican leadership had planned to pass OFTA quietly and quickly in February as a gift to their friends in the oil industry and other corporate allies. But because of your persistence, OFTA turned into one of the most heated fights in Congress this year and changed the debate about trade in this country.

OFTA passed by the narrow margin of 221-205 in the House of Representatives this past Thursday. But, the fight over the deal has had significant political and policy effect. This vote on top of last year’s CAFTA vote – will have serious repercussions come election time in November. A number of candidates challenged their incumbent opponents to oppose the deal but only 28 of 232 Republicans did so, while only 22 out of 202 Democrats supported the retrograde deal.

Read the statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.
For another take on the political fallout from the OFTA, read David Sirota’s article on TomPaine.com.

via public citizen

Posted by cat at 06:47 PM