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Robin Hayes insisted he would vote against CAFTA: "Every time I drive through Kannapolis and I see those empty plants I know there is no way I could vote for CAFTA," Hayes said. [AP 7/14/2005]

Hayes: "What does CAFTA sound like? NAFTA," he said. "It's not in the best interests of a core constituency I represent." Raleigh News and Observer, 7/14/2005]

"I am flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed to CAFTA," Hayes said. "What I was doing early on was at least looking and listening, to see if the improvements that we have begun to get in a whole host of different areas on trade were going to continue. And they have. But, given the nature of our district and the (textile) folks who have suffered there, (the Bush administration) has just not been able to do enough so that it becomes the right vote for the 8th District." [Charlotte Observer, 7/25/2005]

“Congressman Hayes is extremely pleased to create a fair and level playing field, but it still does not change the fact that CAFTA is not a good deal for 8th District businesses," said Carolyn Hern, press secretary for Hayes.” [Winston-Salem Journal, 7/21/2005]

Turning his back on the textile and apparel workers in North Carolina’s 8th District, Rep. Robin Hayes dramatically reversed his previous opposition to the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) expansion of NAFTA to become a deciding last vote that delivered CAFTA’s 217-215 passage.

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Hayes switched his vote in the last minute in 2001 and cast the deciding vote for Fast-Track Trade Promotion Authority:

“A visibly shaken North Carolina Rep. Robin Hayes (R), who had publicly announced his opposition but withheld his vote until the last minute, punched yes. At 4:38, about 10 seconds after they received the 215-214 majority, Illinois Republican Ray LaHood pounded the gavel closing the vote.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/7/2001]

“Hayes got the bird from both parties after vowing opposition to fast-track legislation, then tearfully voting for it.” [Washingtonian, September 2002]

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