In the early hours of July 28, the House of Representatives narrowly accepted the Central American Free Trade Agreement. It would bind the United States, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to a set of rules covering trade and investment. The Senate approved it last week.
The United Steelworkers (USW) quickly issued the following reaction by President Leo W. Gerard to the early morning U.S. House vote to approve CAFTA. "The showdown in the House of Representatives that eked out a 217-215 approval of CAFTA was a vote for big business and not for America's working families.