Associated Press / Tom Raum, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert's scheduling of a vote next month on a bill granting permanent trade benefits to China is being applauded by President Clinton and other supporters of the legislation. "This is very good news," says Clinton.
Still, backers don't underestimate the difficult job that lies ahead in corralling votes, particularly among Democrats. Strong election-year opposition from organized labor has helped generate sizable Democratic resistance to the measure in the House.
Hastert, R-Ill., ended weeks of uncertainty on Tuesday by announcing that the House would take up the China trade bill the week of May 22-26.
But he said it's up to Clinton and Democratic congressional leaders to help deliver the votes. "This will have to be a bipartisan effort. We will need the help of some Democrats to pass this legislation," Hastert said.
In the Senate, where the legislation has always had more support than in the House, two committees today were holding hearings on the China trade deal: Foreign Relations and Finance.
In Beijing today, President Jiang Zemin, meeting with Commerce Secretary William Daley, made another plea for Congress to approve the legislation. Low-tariff trade access is "one of the essential principles of the World Trade Organization," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Jiang as telling Daley.
Daley is meeting with Chinese officials to discuss details of China's WTO membership, which would require China to lower barriers to imports.
The bill would grant China "permanent normal trade relations," ending annual congressional votes on Beijing's trade status. China is one of only a handful of countries on which such annual votes are still taken.
Labor unions, environmental groups, and some human-rights organizations do not want to give up what they view as leverage over China from the annual review process. Labor also fears that increased trade with China will hurt U.S. jobs.
But supporters claim that the measure, along with the related entry of China into the WTO, will open vast Chinese markets to U.S. exporters and farmers.
"Economically, it's a no brainer," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Wednesday in an interview with AP editors and reporters. "It's an opening up of China."
Still, Albright conceded that "we have to keep working it" to build support, given labor's strong opposition.
"We're looking to ultimate victory," Hastert told reporters as he announced the timetable.
In the past, Hastert had indicated he wouldn't move toward a vote unless he was certain of getting 90-100 Democratic votes. Democratic sponsors have said that they doubt that they can deliver more than 70-80 of the chamber's 211 Democrats.
Furthermore, they can't look to the usual leaders for help. Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., remains undecided on the bill, spokeswoman Laura Nichols said on Wednesday. And the No. 2 Democratic leader, Minority Whip David Bonior of Michigan, is a leader of the opposition.
Bonior claims that as many as 150 Democrats may end up voting "no."
Hastert dropped any mention of a Democratic threshold of support in his Wednesday remarks, cheering supporters.
The May schedule also meets administration hopes for a vote before the election season heats up this summer.
"Setting a week in May for a vote is an important step forward," said Commerce Secretary William Daley in a statement from Beijing, where he was discussions trade with Chinese officials. "Over the next few weeks we will have to stay focused and continue to convincingly make our case to the American people."
Clinton welcomed Hastert's move and announced it at a White House conference on the new economy. "I want to thank the speaker and the leadership of the House for doing this, and I assure you I will do what I can to pass it," the president said.:
