Copyright 2000 The National Journal, Inc.
The National Journal
MARCH 11, 2000
SECTION: CONGRESS; Pg. 786; Vol. 32, No. 11
LENGTH: 736 words
HEADLINE:
Pivotal Events in Congress, March 6-9
BYLINE: Jill
Graham and Charlie Mitchell
BODY:
Clinton
Pushes China Trade, Gun Bills
President Clinton on
March 8 sent Congress his proposal
to grant China permanent normal
trade-relations status, not a
minute too soon for free-trading lawmakers.
Senior Senators
emerged from a White House powwow with Clinton on March 7
sold on
the notion that the effort must move into the legislative fast
lane. Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth Jr., R-
Del.,
and ranking member Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., vowed
quick committee
action. They and other meeting attendees-
including Senate Majority Leader
Trent Lott, R-Miss., and
Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle, D-S.D.-agreed
with Clinton
that the next step would be a floor vote, probably in the
Senate,
by late April or early May. Lott indicated that two thorny issues
bedeviling potential PNTR supporters-Chinese saber rattling
toward Taiwan and the lack of a trade agreement between China and
Europe-should not hold up the vote. House Majority Leader Dick
Armey,
R-Texas, said the House would vote "probably in June."
Meanwhile, Clinton
also pushed another priority this week when he
played host to House-Senate
conferees on the juvenile-justice/gun
control legislation. But there were no
immediate signs that the
deadlock on that bill would
break.-KeithKoffler/CongressDaily
Senate Clears Two Judicial Nominees
After years of waiting for final votes on their
nominations to seats on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the
9th
Circuit, Marsha L. Berzon and Richard A. Paez won Senate
confirmation on
March 9, despite the furious opposition of some
conservatives. Sen. Bob
Smith, R-N.H., led the charge against the
nominees, calling them "activists"
who are "out of the mainstream
of American jurisprudence." The Senate shot
down efforts to
filibuster the nominations on March 8. A further move to
indefinitely postpone-and thereby kill-Paez's nomination was
turned
back, 67-31, on March 9, before he was confirmed 59-39. A
district court
judge in Los Angeles, Paez was nominated to the
appellate bench more than
four years ago-a record time for the
Senate to take before acting on a
judicial nomination. Berzon, a
San Francisco lawyer, had waited more than
two years before the
Senate's 64-34 vote to confirm her. Vice President Al
Gore had
cut short a campaign trip to be on hand if he was needed to cast
a tie-breaking vote. -Kirk Victor/National Journal
House
Debates Minimum-Wage Hike
The House on March 9
headed toward approval of a
Democratic plan to raise the minimum wage by $ 1
over two years,
and a $ 46 billion five-year tax relief package backed by
Republicans. Votes on the legislation were pending at press time.
At a
rally with Democratic lawmakers on March 8, President
Clinton threatened to
veto the GOP proposal to increase the $5.15-per-hour minimum wage by $ 1 over
three years, rather than
two, and provide business tax breaks. The Senate
approved
bankruptcy reform legislation in February that included such
minimum-wage provisions. Earlier on March 9, House GOP
conservatives
were poised to vote against the "rule" setting the
procedures for the
minimum-wage debate, which would have spoiled
their leaders' plans for
dispensing with the volatile issue. But
after pleas by Republican leaders,
the conservatives fell in line
and dropped their demand to allow states to
"opt out" of the wage
hike. "They asked us to suck it up on this issue, and
we did,"
said Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz. But he added that conservatives
"cannot be expected to concede over and over again."
-Geoff
Earle/CongressDaily
The Week Ahead
The Senate is
not in session during the week of March 13.
The House is scheduled to take
up the conference report on
legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation
Administration,
which the Senate passed on March 8, and legislation
reauthorizing
the Small Business Administration. The House also might
consider
property-rights legislation.
CongressDaily's Final Word n
"There's no such thing as an indispensable person."
-Rep. Tom Bliley, R-Va., when asked his opinion on term
limits for
committee chairmen, after he announced his retirement
at a March 8 press
conference. Bliley stood to lose his House
Commerce Committee chairmanship
next year because of term limits.
LOAD-DATE: March 13,
2000 
