Southern Senators doubt they can defeat trade bill

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Posted 9:46AM on Sunday, May 12, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As senators debate whether to grant President Bush broader power over trade deals, the textile industry has been rather silent compared to its pivotal role during last year's House vote. It's not that senators from Southern textile states care less about the industry than their House colleagues. In fact, many believe the trade package is such a raw deal for struggling textile workers that they'll oppose it, no matter what. The trouble is, that doesn't leave much negotiating room with the White House on a measure whose supporters say will easily win Senate approval, with or without the South. ``I don't think you should trade your convictions,'' said Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican who intends to vote against the trade package. ``I've seen the promises through many instances of executive negotiating with the Congress. At the end of day, you ought to make a judgment on what's in the best interest of the people, not give your vote away to any president.'' Trade promotion authority, also known as fast track, gives the president the power to negotiate new trade agreements that Congress can accept or reject, but cannot amend. Presidents have been denied that power since 1994, but Bush says he needs it for the United States to play a key role in a new round of World Trade Organization talks on lowering trade barriers. Last December, the House passed a similar measure 215-214. Many Southern lawmakers changed their votes after winning commitments that the Bush administration would try to protect textile and apparel industries, which have lost more than 600,000 jobs in the past decade. But two months after the razor-thin vote, Bush loosened textile tariffs on Pakistan in exchange for that country's help in the war on terrorism, enraging some lawmakers who agreed to the deal. Now the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, the industry's chief Washington lobby, is urging a no vote on the trade package barring some significant concessions. Carlos Moore, the lobby's president, concedes the textile industry won't have as much clout during the Senate debate. But, since the Senate version is slightly different, negotiators will have to work out the details. That means it could return to the House for a narrow final vote and another opportunity for textiles to wield some influence. ``There's a correlation between the closeness of the vote and whether or not you have leverage,'' Moore said. Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., is one of few senators from a major textile state who plans to support the trade package no matter what. Sens. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., are against it, and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., appears to be leaning that way. Sens. Max Cleland, D-Ga., and John Edwards, D-N.C., have set conditions for their support, some involving textiles. Cleland, for example, wants Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to hold separate votes on fast track and another measure extending trade preferences to the Andean countries of Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Cleland calls that a ``poison pill'' that will hurt American textile manufacturers. ``Fast track is a process; Andean trade promotion is a deal,'' Cleland said. ``I'm against the deal, leaning in the direction of the process.'' Edwards, who is exploring a run for president, has demanded Bush provide more help for laid-off textile workers to get his vote. But Rep. Howard Coble, a North Carolina Republican who leads the textile caucus, says senators ought to be working to protect the jobs, not merely soften the fall. Coble ultimately voted against the trade package last year after intensely bargaining with the White House. He questions whether senators are carrying their weight in the bargaining process. ``I think they've done little over there,'' Coble said. ``They're show horses and we're workhorses.'' Although the Senate is almost certain to pass it should it reach the floor, Daschle threatened last week to pull the legislation over Republican complaints about his efforts to tie it with another program helping workers who lose their jobs as a result of foreign trade. ``The whole thing seems to be totally bogging down right now,'' Sessions said.