Copyright 2000 The National Journal, Inc.
The National Journal
July 22, 2000
SECTION: TRADE; Pg. 2390; Vol. 32, No. 30
LENGTH: 181 words
HEADLINE: A
Slow Boat Gets Slower
BYLINE: Stephen
Norton/CongressDaily
BODY:
It's official, almost: After weeks of pressure from free-
traders in
the Senate and the business community, Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott,
R-Miss., announced this week that the Senate
would begin debating the
procedures for moving permanent normal
trade relations for China during the
week of July 24. But
Senators will not actually vote on the bill until they
return in
September. Lott said debating the motion to proceed to the vote
at least sends a message that he intends to move the bill as
quickly as
possible. Lott has also been working on a way to take
up a bill by Senate
Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred D.
Thompson, R-Tenn., and Sen. Robert G.
Torricelli, D-N.J., that is
designed to arrest weapons proliferation by the
Chinese. Thompson
insists his aim is to have a vote on his bill on its own,
and
before the trade vote. The Clinton Administration opposes the
bill,
and Senate Democrats have been angling to keep it from
coming up. The
cloture vote on the motion to proceed to PNTR
could take
place Friday, July 28.
LOAD-DATE: July 25, 2000
