The CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) vote is now history, but history that must guide our actions for the future. There are steps to be taken to bring Congress back to the Freedom position, we will list several in this and subsequent alerts.

There were many improprieties in the voting, including but not limited to, the following:

1. At the end of the official 15-minute voting period, CAFTA was defeated 180 to 175. The House Republican Leadership was so politically driven to get what they wanted that they broke the House rules, extending the vote indefinitely until they had the vote they wished. The voting closed only after CAFTA "passed" 217 to 215. For details see the article by Ron Paul: http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul268.html

2. Charles Taylor, Republican from a textile district in North Carolina, is reported to have stated on talk radio that he voted NO, but someone changed his vote.

3. "The last-minute negotiations for Republican votes resembled the wheeling and dealing on a car lot." stated The Washington Post. The cost of the "deals" which paid for yes votes has been estimated at over 50 billion dollars! Bribing our "Representatives" with our tax dollars to achieve the Beltway Insiders agenda hardly seems to be an appropriate way for our "Representatives" to conduct legislative business. Rather than representing a specific district or state to the Legislature of the United States, many in Congress seem to be the representative of the Beltway Insiders to their home state or district.  For details see Steven Yates article at: http://www.newswithviews.com/Yates/steven9.htm

So what can we do about this massive sellout of United States interests in favor of the agenda of special interest groups? There are several courses of action, which will help Congress be more accountable to their constituents:

1. Find out how your Senators and Representative voted on CAFTA. Remember how they voted, for we will hold them accountable for their vote.
Senate Vote: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00209 
House Vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll443.xml

2. Send a letter or phone call (1-866-762-8762) of congratulations to those Senators and Representatives who voted against CAFTA. Those in Congress seldom hear from us when they do something right, but they often hear when their vote is displeasing to those at home. Multiply your effectiveness by telling them often when they do right. The special interests exert tremendous pressure on Congress. We need to build a base of support for those that consistently vote the Freedom position.

3. If your Senators or Representative voted for CAFTA, write a letter to the editor of your area papers calling for their recall by name individually. If there is no recall law in your state, write a letter to the editor asking your state Senator or Representative to sponsor a recall bill. Mention your Senator or Representative by name and his CAFTA vote as the reason a recall law is needed. Letters don't have to be long, short letters are more apt to be printed.  To send the same Letter to the Editor to 5 newspapers per day click on this link: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

Call Congress and write Letters to the Editor on recall weekly to keep this issue before Congress and your neighbors. Congress will listen if we are persistent and consistent, and then this CAFTA 'victory' will doom FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) to defeat.

For Freedom,

Will Christensen
National Chairman
Independent American Party
http://www.usiap.org