With Congress Back, Clinton Pushes Free Trade

Congress to consider spending bills, 'fast track' and State Department reorganization

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 20) -- With Congress speeding towards adjournment in three weeks, President Bill Clinton continues pushing for "fast track" authority to negotiate free-trade deals.

The president flew back from South America this weekend after visits to Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, where he sought to build support for a major goal of his second term: a hemisphere-wide free-trade zone by 2005. But the plan faces an uncertain future, as many lawmakers in the president's own party are leading the opposition to it.

Aboard Air Force One, Clinton called several Democratic lawmakers to discuss pending "fast-track" legislation that would allow him to negotiate trade agreements to which Congress could only give an up or down vote.

Back in Washington, his advisors sought to bolster the ranks of supporters.

"At this point I would say that it's a game of addition, and that's what we're trying to do: add to the numbers" of supporters, Commerce Secretary William Daley told CBS' "Face The Nation" on Sunday.

Labor unions are strongly opposing fast-track, mounting an extensive campaign to portray free trade as the enemy of U.S. workers and a clean environment. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka warned that lawmakers who support fast-track would face voter backlash.

"The people who support this fast-track bill that excludes protection for workers, the environment and consumers, I think they will pay a price at the polls," Trumka told CBS.

Congress aims for Nov. 7 adjournment

Meanwhile, lawmakers returning to Washington after a Columbus Day recess have plenty of other business to attend to if they hope to head home by Nov. 7, as they plan.

Only five of the 13 annual spending bills have been signed into law. While two simply await the president's signature, the others have yet to be approved by Congress.

Some fights -- and possible vetoes -- are in the offing.

Issues ranging from how the census is conducted, to federal support for abortion, to education reforms such as school vouchers and national tests, threaten to prolong passage and signing of the bills.

This year's struggle over budget levels should be far less contentious than previous years', a result of the budget accord reached last summer.

Another issue that the Senate may consider is revamping the United States' foreign policy establishment, and paying the U.S.'s outstanding debt to the United Nations. Some lawmakers seek to bring the U.S. Information Agency and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under the State Department's direct control.

Also being considered is legislation that would combine limits on punitive damage awards with federal standards for faulty-product lawsuits. The administration has offered support for a bill that would limit punitive awards against small businesses. And under Clinton's proposal, only workplace goods would be sheltered from suits after being on the market for a specified period.

In Other News:

Monday Oct. 20, 1997

• Court Won't Revive Louisiana Abortion Law
• Reno Takes A Swing At Microsoft
• With Congress Back, Clinton Pushes Free Trade

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