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To: rickmeece who wrote (35641)	6/17/2000 8:17:00 PM
From: allen v.w.	Respond to of 40688

Clinton Makes Case For Senate Vote On China Trade WASHINGTON, Jun 16, 2000 -- (Reuters) President Bill Clinton turned to his allies in big business on Thursday to press for Senate passage of a landmark China trade bill, after the administration's point man in the trade fight - Commerce Secretary William Daley - announced his resignation. Clinton has made granting permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China his top legislative priority for his final year in office. The trade bill was approved by the House of Representatives in May, but Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, has refused to schedule a final vote, insisting that lawmakers first complete work on key spending bills. "This isn't very complicated," White House spokesman Jake Siewert told reporters. "We have strong support for (PNTR) in the Senate. What we need is a vote, a date for a vote...There's no reason to delay." Clinton made the case for moving swiftly to a Senate vote at a meeting of the Business Roundtable, a group of top corporate executives. During the closed-door session, Clinton told business leaders to "make clear (to Lott) that this is too important to wait," said John Schachter, the Business Roundtable's spokesman. The group was instrumental in lobbying the House to pass PNTR, and Clinton aides hoped the top executives would step up pressure on Lott to schedule a final vote before Congress' July 4 recess. Thursday's meeting also gave Clinton a chance to prove he remained focused on the trade bill after Daley announced he would leave his job on July 15 to replace the ailing Tony Coelho as presidential hopeful Al Gore's campaign chairman. Administration officials involved in the China trade fight played down Daley's decision. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Ricchetti and other senior Clinton aides would fill the void. "We remain actively involved," she said. But Lott's spokesman, John Czwartacki, said Daley's decision was "not helpful." LOTT WON'T RUSH In a move that angered the White House and business groups, Lott told reporters this week that he would not "rush" to schedule a vote on PNTR, which would end the annual ritual of reviewing China's trade status and guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as products from nearly every other nation. China would in turn open a wide range of markets, from agriculture to telecommunications, to U.S. businesses under the terms of a landmark trade agreement signed in November 1999 ushering Beijing into the World Trade Organization (WTO). With Daley at the helm, PNTR won House approval by a surprisingly comfortable margin. Senate passage is virtually assured whenever a vote is scheduled. Sixty-three lawmakers in the 100-member Senate said in a Reuters poll they would vote in favor of PNTR, enough to override a vote-blocking filibuster. But before turning to the trade bill, Lott said the Senate should first pass many of the spending bills needed to fund the federal government and its programs. Lott said he also wanted to work out an agreement with Tennessee Republican Sen. Fred Thompson on separate legislation to combat weapons proliferation by China. Thompson has threatened to add his bill to the PNTR package, which would force the House and Senate to negotiate a final compromise and vote again on the measure. Senate aides said a vote on PNTR was still possible before the July 4 recess, but would most likely be held over until mid-to late July. Frustrated by the delay, Republican Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Craig Thomas of Wyoming have circulated a letter among senators urging Lott to schedule a vote before July 4 and pledging to block any effort to amend the bill. A similar letter was sent to Lott last week by moderate Democrats. (C)2000 Copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters Limited.