[asia-apec 1789] Fast track (US trade neg authority) stalled for now

[APEC Monitoring Group]

[NYT]
JUL 31, 2001
Bush Fails to Win Support On Hill for 'Fast Track' Trade
By ALISON MITCHELL




WASHINGTON, July 31 - Saying they did not have enough votes to prevail
this week on President Bush's top trade priority, Republican leaders
of the House today postponed until the fall the effort to grant the
president broad authority to negotiate new trade agreements.

The delay on the contentious issue of trade bought the administration
time for more negotiations with moderate Democrats whose support will
be critical for its success in the House. And it allowed Republicans
to focus all their might on getting votes for the president's energy
plan and a patient's bill of rights as Congress pushes toward a summer
recess.

"The long and short of it is we don't have enough Democratic votes,"
said Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader, as
he announced that the Republicans had dropped plans to hold the trade
vote this week.

Mr. Bush, like President Bill Clinton before him, is seeking the power
to negotiate free trade agreements that could not be amended by the
Senate. Once such trade pacts have been concluded with another
country, the Senate's only role would be to approve them or reject
them on an up-or-down vote.

Mr. Bush, a fierce proponent of such trade authority, said last week
that he wanted Congress to act "pretty darn quickly." But in a meeting
with a key Republican he also modified that stance, saying he
considered it crucial to have additional powers to negotiate trade
deals in time for a World Trade Organization conference in Qatar in
November which could start a new round of global trade talks.

Last week, Mr. Bush argued that he needed the trade authority "for the
good of the American people, for the good of the agricultural sector,
so I can use my efforts to knock down the trade barriers, the
protectionist tendencies around the world that prevent our products
from getting into markets."

But the difficulties he faces were on full display even as the House
approved by voice vote a trade pact with Jordan today. Democrats used
the debate to voice their distrust of the Bush administration's
willingness to push for labor and environmental protections as part of
trade agreements. And the Jordan bill is stalled in the Senate because
Republicans believe it goes too far in its consideration of labor and
environmental issues.