The trade agreement between the United States and Carribean countries and the Dominican Republic gain the crital "Yeah" from the US House of Representative, albeit with a narrow margin.
The passage will be a moral victory for the US President George Bush who had been vociferous proponent and supporter of the bill to pass through the House.
The day-long White House proceeding, since early Thursday saw approval of the controversial Central America Free Trade Agreement only narrowly, as a face saving political victory for the President.
The verdict 217 to 215 went in favor of CAFTA, and the House leaders kept the voting slot open for an hour, much beyond the normal 15-minute voting time to garner the much need votes for the agreement's passage.
While 25 Republicans went against the passage while two others did not vote, only 15 Democrats among total 202 defied to support it.
Meanwhile in the Capitol, Vice President Dick Cheney, two Cabinet secretaries and the U.S. trade representative working with GOP leaders to secure the votes of wavering Republicans.
However, it was finally Bush at the centre who came in from behind to lobby members of his own party, terming the trade pact as a national security issue, to settle the issue.
Earlier in June, the Senate passed the agreement that will remove trade barriers between the United States and five Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, jioined by Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.
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