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Diaz-Balart Votes for CAFTA

Date: July 27, 2005
Location: Washington DC
Issues: Trade

July 27, 2005

Diaz-Balart Votes for CAFTA

WASHINGTON-Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) today voted for DR-CAFTA, the free trade agreement between the United States and Central American countries.

"While some aspects of this trade agreement could have been better, CAFTA will be a boon for our nation's overall economic interests and will help Central American democracies in their economic development. It is our best foreign policy to help growing democratic nations."

DR-CAFTA will:

* Make more than 80 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Central America and the Dominican
Republic duty free;
* Solidify the United States as the leading supplier of goods and services to the Western Hemisphere at a time when China
is making serious inroads as an investor and exporter in the region;
* Contain the highest level of intellectual property protection in Latin America;
* Boost U.S. agricultural exports by an estimated $1.5 billion (American Farm Bureau Federation);
* Benefit small and medium-sized businesses, which were responsible for an estimated 37 percent of U.S. exports to the
Dominican Republic and Central America in 2002; and
* Create jobs by opening foreign markets.

http://www.house.gov/mariodiaz-balart/news/2005news/072705_cafta.htm

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