Test Vote in Senate Advances Clinton’s Fast-Track Bill

President Clinton’s controversial fast-track trade legislation easily won its first test vote in the Senate Tuesday, brightening prospects for passage in both houses of Congress later this week.

In a clear show of support for the measure, the Senate voted, 69 to 31, to block any delay in taking up the legislation--nine votes more than would be needed to end a filibuster by opponents.

Congressional strategists said the strong showing all but guarantees that the Senate will pass the bill, which would enhance Clinton’s authority to negotiate trade pacts with other nations. Final balloting in the Senate is expected by this weekend after a second procedural vote Thursday.

Clinton hailed the vote, saying that it reflected “a bipartisan coalition for American leadership,” which would help sustain America’s economic boom.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) told reporters that support in the House for fast track had “improved” among both Democrats and Republicans, thanks in part to heavy presidential lobbying.

At the same time, both sides conceded that Clinton is unlikely to persuade many more House Democrats to support the bill and that he would have to rely on Republicans to fill the gap.

Top administration officials were negotiating with Republicans and making concessions on pet GOP issues in other pending bills to attract more Republican support for the fast-track legislation.

Although both sides remained closed-mouthed about specifics, aides said that the issues ranged from limits on the use of foreign aid money to help finance abortions abroad, to whether “sampling”--scientific estimates of hard-to-count population groups--would be used in the 2000 census.

“So many Republicans have submitted demands that we don’t know how to cope with them all,” one insider lamented.

The fast-track bill would authorize the president to begin new trade talks. Congress could reject any new trade pact but only on an up-or-down vote, without altering specific provisions, under the bill.

Although all presidents since Gerald R. Ford have operated under such authority, which has expired, unions and environmentalists have launched a major campaign to defeat the bill, saying that it would hurt U.S. jobs and environmental goals. In Tuesday’s test vote in the Senate, 43 Republicans and 26 Democrats voted in the majority, while 12 Republicans and 19 Democrats were opposed.

Both of California’s senators, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, voted against allowing the bill to move ahead.

The vote was important because backers of the legislation had hoped that a visible show of support in the Senate might help provide the political cover for more Democrats in the House to vote for the bill.

Republican leaders have been warning that, unless Clinton can persuade at least 70 House Democrats to vote for the measure, there will not be enough GOP support to ensure passage.

Even the bill’s backers conceded that the vote in the House--now set for Friday--is likely to be close.

Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), a key House sponsor of the measure, said that there would be “no way” Democrats can muster the 70 votes Republicans say are needed.

Nevertheless, Matsui insisted, “the momentum is with us” and support for the bill appears to be growing. “We’ll get there by Friday,” he predicted, “but it’s still an uphill battle.”

The Senate is scheduled to continue debating the fast-track bill today, taking a second test vote sometime Thursday.

A group of opponents, led by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), vowed to try to load the bill with amendments in an effort to defeat it but congressional strategists expressed doubt that they would succeed.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry told reporters that the administration “will work carefully with” Republicans “to try to understand the concerns they want to bring to the table.”

“We recognize that it’s a process of give-and-take when you’ve got a Republican Congress and a Democratic president,” he said.

Meanwhile, Clinton continued his efforts to persuade lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support the bill. On Tuesday, he invited members of the Texas delegation to the White House for a chat.

Aides said that he is planning to deliver speeches today and Thursday to promote the measure. He also plans to unveil a program for added retraining money for workers hurt by foreign competition.

For all his stepped-up lobbying, Clinton still has not softened the opposition of his own party’s House leadership, particularly House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).

At a press conference called by opponents of the bill, House Democratic leaders predicted that 80% of the 205 House Democrats are likely to vote against fast track.

House Minority Whip David E. Bonior (D-Mich.) said that he has been able to count no more than 20 to 30 Democrats who are committed to supporting the bill.

Bonior and Gephardt endorsed a report issued by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) calling on the president to make drug-enforcement policies a major priority in future trade deals.

Times staff writer Elizabeth Shogren contributed to this story.