In a front-page article in El Caribe newspaper, US congressmen Charlie Rangel and Sander Levin have requested that President George W. Bush include the Dominican Republic, and any other Caribbean countries that wish to participate, in the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The congressmen argue that the Dominican Republic is a leading recipient of US exports and a regional leader in co-production agreements with US companies. Rangel, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Levin, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Sub Committee, remarked in a joint statement that US workers, businessmen and farmers stand to gain if the biggest and best markets in the region for US goods and services are included in the agreement.
