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Article: Rx for trade policy.(COMMENTARY)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- October 19, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: William Krist, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
It is time for a new approach to trade policy - or more accurately, to return to bipartisanship, the approach that worked so well from the end of World War II until the mid-'90s.
Trade legislation once passed Congress with overwhelming majorities. The Tokyo Round agreement passed the House in 1979 by a 395-7 vote. As recent as 1994, the Uruguay Round Trade Agreement passed by 288-146. Contrast that with this year, when the House passed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by the narrowest of margins (217-215) on July 27.
To get that razor-thin victory, enormous effort was ...