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Hayes said he had not prepared an agenda, because he had not expected to change his vote. After the vote, Hayes said, he met with Rob Portman, a U.S. trade representative, to discuss the needs of the textile industry.

His switch was made easier by the fact that some of the larger textile companies supported CAFTA, seeing an elimination of tariffs between the United States and the Central American countries as the only way to compete against the wave of Chinese imports.

John Bakane, president and CEO of Cone Denims in Greensboro, said that 90 percent of denim jeans are made overseas.

As a result of CAFTA, Bakane said, "You will continue to have a U.S. textile industry in 10 to 20 years."

For Hayes, this was a familiar predicament -- caught between his constituents and his party's leadership on a controversial trade issue. In 2001, Hayes cast the decisive House vote to give the president trade promotion authority, often called fast-track.

Failure to vote

Taylor's failure to vote also drew attention.

The eight-term Republican congressman from Brevard said he cast a no vote on the House floor, but "due to an error my no vote did not record on the voting machine." He said the House clerk's computer logs verified that he had voted. A spokesman for the House Administration Committee said Taylor had tried to vote with an invalid voting card.

Members can watch their votes recorded on a big board, and they have the opportunity to orally announce their vote to the clerk.

Taylor said that he and Rep. Howard Coble of Greensboro voted no together -- and both had agreed to vote late to give the House leadership time to round up votes.

"I voted and I saw Charlie on the floor. I believe he said, 'I voted, too,' and said, 'Let's leave,' " Coble said, adding that they went to Taylor's office and monitored the House proceedings on C-SPAN.

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