Democrats’ Bid to Amend Trade Bill Fails

An 11th-hour maneuver by House Democrats to amend the omnibus trade bill fizzled in the Senate Tuesday, thereby setting the stage for a veto battle over the bill next week.

The House leadership last week pushed through a “technical amendment” to the already completed bill that would have stripped from it a controversial provision limiting exports of Alaskan oil products.

Hoped to Score Points

Deleting that provision, the Democrats reasoned, would force Reagan to veto the bill solely on the ground that it would regulate layoffs and plant closings by companies with more than 100 employees. Democrats believe that they can score points in the election campaign this fall if they can accuse Republicans of indifference to the plight of workers who suddenly lose their jobs.

But, when the amendment reached the Senate floor Tuesday, Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) immediately threatened to reopen the bill to time-consuming debate and amendments. Senate Democrats, fearful of once again throwing open the whole 1,000-page bill, consigned the amendment to a committee, where it will die unseen.

The bill, still containing the Alaska oil export limits as well as the provision regulating layoffs and plant-closings, now will go to Reagan in the form in which it was finally approved nearly two weeks ago. The final Senate vote on the bill on April 27 was 63 to 36, four votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override Reagan’s veto.

That Reagan will veto the bill is not in doubt. A White House official who asked not to be named said that senior staff members will meet today to debate the timing, format and content of Reagan’s veto message.

Protectionism Charged

The President, in his public comments, has emphasized his objections to the provision on plant closings and layoffs, which he has called an unwarranted intrusion into corporate management. But last week Secretary of State George P. Shultz said that Reagan should veto the bill because it provides too many artificial protections for American businesses competing with foreign firms.

After the bill lands on Reagan’s desk, the President will have 10 days to veto it. Administration officials were unsure Tuesday whether they will press ahead with their earlier plan to declare the veto quickly and force the issue while there is still enough Republican enthusiasm to sustain the veto in the Senate.

Even now, the huge bill will not leave Capitol Hill quietly. House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), who engineered the last-minute attempt to amend the bill, scheduled a ceremonial “signing” for today and invited labor leaders, industrial representatives and representatives of other interest groups that would benefit from the legislation.

Alaska Oil Provisions

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.), conceding that the Alaska oil provisions could not be stripped from the legislation, said he “had hoped that, if these offending provisions had been eliminated, the President would have had one less reason for vetoing this bill.”

Dole, in refusing to grant Republican consent to a vote on the Alaska oil amendment without extended debate, warned that the Senate would face a long list of amendments covering the plant-closing issue and a host of other non-trade features in the bill. “We would have a full-scale trade debate here for several days,” he warned.