WASHINGTON – More than a dozen fence-sitting lawmakers yesterday agreed to support a bill boosting trade with China, giving President Clinton a likely victory in today’s historic vote.
We’re “on the edge of victory,” Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) said.
GOP leaders, who did the heavy lifting on the bill, predicted they will snag the necessary 218 “yes” votes to eke out a close win this evening,
The bill, which gives China permanent, improved access to U.S. markets, would end the current practice of reviewing the country each year and basing trade relations on China’s recent actions.
Yesterday’s swing was led by Democratic Reps. Ruben Hinojosa of Texas and Gregory Meeks of Queens, both of whom took all-expense paid trips to China in April as Clinton sought to win their support.
The battle over the trade bill has split Congress right down the middle.
On one side are pro-business types, who argue that China and its 1 billion consumers are ripe for U.S. products – and that if America doesn’t sell to them, Europe, Asia and Africa will.
On the other side are union sympathizers, environmentalists and human-rights advocates, who worry that blessing China will kill American jobs and encourage repressive work conditions for Chinese.
Rep. David Bonior, a Michigan Democrat and a leading opponent, says a Wal-Mart contractor in China making Kathie Lee Gifford handbags hires workers who are “indentured servants.”
Bonior said Chinese factory workers put in 12- to 14-hour days for 3 cents an hour. He also said Nike uses Chinese workers at a factory in Hung Wah where employees are paid an average of 22 cents an hour.
The trade deal “will provide a new source of cheap labor for big business,” said Bonior, who criticized the trade pact as a sweetheart deal for American corporations.
The Business Roundtable, a pro-trade group spending millions to get the deal approved, said New York exported $596 million worth of goods to China in 1998, up 23 percent from 1996.
Roundtable experts have told Congress that New York would win lower taxes on everything from apples, grapes and wine to cheese, frozen hash browns and pet food if the trade pact wins approval.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the president talked on the phone with wavering members and entertained a few others at the White House, desperate for a win as he enters his final eight months in office.
The final day of lobbying came as Clinton and Republicans joined New York Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Charles Rangel to announce a 10-year, $20 billion expansion of empowerment zones.