Robert "Robin" Hayes (born August 14 1945) is a Republican Congressman from North Carolina. He has represented the state's Eighth Congressional district (map) in the House of Representatives since 1999. The district stretches from Charlotte to Fayetteville

Hayes owns a hosiery mill in his hometown of Concord. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1992 and served two terms. Hayes was the Republican nominee for governor in 1996. Two years later, Hayes was elected to represent North Carolina's Eighth District.

Hayes has been reelected every two years since. The Democratic-controlled state legislature unsuccessfully attempted to draw Hayes out of office by adding part of Charlotte to the district. However Hayes has managed to win reelection three times.

CAFTA and Trade Act controversy

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Rep. Hayes has drawn heavy criticism for voting in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Hayes had earlier voiced his strong opposition to the measure, saying he felt it would cause further loss of textile industry jobs in his district.

In the weeks before the vote, Hayes stated that he was "flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed to CAFTA," saying that "it's not in the best interests of the core constituency I represent," and that "there is no way I could vote for CAFTA". ^*

Hayes first voted "no" but was pressured at the last minute to change his vote by prominent House Republicans. The final tally was 217-215 with Hayes casting the deciding "yes" vote (a tie would have defeated the motion). ^*

Hayes played a similar role in the passage of the Trade Act of 2002, which shifted some trade agreement authority from Congress to the President. Though Hayes had said "We're a definite 'no' until we get some help on textiles," he was lobbied hard by the White House and congressional leadership to vote for the measure. Hayes waited until the last minute before voting "yes," and broke down in tears on the floor of the House. ^*

External links

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• Information from Project Vote Smart
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
• NC politics website BlueNC's coverage of Robin Hayes

1945 births | ARMPAC recipients | Current members of the United States House of Representatives | Living people | Members of the North Carolina State House | Members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina