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The Peru free trade agreement easily passed the House Thursday morning in a vote that exposed divisions on trade within the Democratic Caucus. The House approved the deal 285-132, with 116 Democrats voting against the deal despite its endorsement by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democratic leaders. Those voting yes included 109 Democrats and eight Democrats did not vote.
The deal will now move to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved. Pelosi and other key Democratic leaders on trade, such as Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), urged their colleagues to support the Peru deal, while rank-and-file Democrats, including many freshmen, called on their colleagues to oppose it. The Peru deal is the first trade agreement to be considered by Congress since Democrats won the majority after last year’s elections, and the trade pact includes tougher labor and environmental standards at the behest of Rangel and other Democrats. Rangel and others had been trying to build as much support for the Peru deal as possible in the hope a majority of the Democratic Caucus might support it. A high level of support could make it easier to bring three other deals negotiated by the Bush administration to the floor. The other three deals also include the tougher labor and environmental standards, and the administration has been pushing Congress to take up the Colombia free trade agreement as soon as possible. Labor unions, however, have drawn a line in the sand on the Colombia deal because of the murders in that country of labor organizers. While most unions did not lobby hard against the Peru deal, they have loudly insisted the Colombia deal should not be considered. |
