WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House voted 227-198 late Wednesday to pull the
permanent force of U.S. troops out of Haiti by the end of the year.

``It's not fair to leave our troops in Haiti in an open-ended deployment,'' said
Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the House International Relations
Committee.

Opponents of the pullout said the peacekeeping force in Haiti numbers fewer than
500 troops. ``Haiti does not have an army now because they agreed to get rid of
it,'' said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. ``Our troops are not in jeopardy.''

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican, joined all Democrats in the Florida
delegation in voting against the pullout.

The measure was approved as an amendment to the defense spending bill. A final
vote on the bill could come today after further debate on other amendments.

After passage in the House, the bill will go to a House-Senate conference
committee for coordination with a Senate defense bill passed last month. The
Senate version does not include the Haiti troop pullout.