CAFTA Damage Report: Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.)
In a blow to the Illinois working families who campaigned to put her in office in 2004 and in contradiction to a 2004 campaign pledge to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Rep. Melissa Bean (D Ill.-8) voted in favor of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which eked through the House of Representatives on July 27 by a 217-215 vote. Bean’s flip-flop has the citizens of Illinois’ 8th district worried that their Congresswoman is either unable or unwilling to stand up for their concerns.
PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS RELEASES
NEWS ARTICLES ON BEAN’S BAD CAFTA VOTE
- “CAFTA Vote Outs ‘Bush Democrats,'” The Nation, August 28, 2005.
- “Democracy Sold Out – CAFTA Approved by Pork and a Hill of Beans,” CommonDreams.org, July 28, 2005.
- “Labor Won’t Forget the CAFTA Dems,” Capital Times, July 28, 2005.
- “Union chief rips Bean for backing trade pact,” Chicago Sun-Times, July 29, 2005.
- “Unions Say They Will Punish Democrats For Supporting DR-CAFTA Deal,” Inside US Trade, July 29, 2005.
- “Reverberations from CAFTA vote are still being felt on Hill,” The Hill, August 3, 2005.
- “Bean loses ‘Person of Year’ award over CAFTA vote,” Associated Press, August 4, 2005.
- “Bean’s Vote on CAFTA sparks AFL-CIO reaction,” Barrington Courier-Review, August 11, 2005.
- “House Democrats under pressure after votes for DR-CAFTA,” Inside US Trade, August 12, 2005.
- “Bean’s Vote Upsets Union,” Palatine Countryside (Ill.), August 18, 2005.
CONTACT REPRESENTATIVE BEAN, AND LET HER KNOW THAT HER VOTE TO EXTEND NAFTA TO SIX MORE COUNTRIES WILL NOT GO UNNOTICED!
- DC Office: 202-225-3711
- Palatine District Office: 847-358-9160
- Visit Representative Bean’s website
Call and ask to speak with a Trade Legislative Assistant, and tell them that Representative Bean’s bad CAFTA vote is not supported by the citizens of Illinois’ 8th District!