Stand Firm on Trade Legislation--Fast : Congress must resist Hollings-type obstructionists and ratify GATT by year’s end

In a laudable show of bipartisanship, Senate leaders have agreed to return to Washington for an extraordinary lame-duck session in late November specifically to vote on a new world trade agreement. That appears to put to rest fears over the last 48 hours that Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) would succeed in his efforts to block a vote this year by holding the trade legislation hostage in his Commerce Committee.

But the protectionist South Carolina Democrat has nonetheless deftly set the stage for other free-trade foes and critics of the Clinton Administration to hammer away at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. While there has been widespread bipartisan support for liberalizing trade in both the Senate and House, this is, after all, an election year, one in which incumbents are generally unpopular and vulnerable.

Standing firm in supporting the trade legislation will be tough but right in principle and practicality. It is clearly in the national interest to ratify a worldwide agreement that would slash tariffs around the globe and help to create 300,000 to 500,00 new U.S. jobs in the next few years.

Republicans must join with Democrats in defeating GATT detractors like Hollings. A Republican wild card is Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who was noticeably absent from Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee and did not vote with fellow Republican members to clear the trade bill out of that panel.

Dole, a would-be presidential contender, says he supports free trade but he has been critical of the Clinton Administration’s trade legislation. Might the Kansas Republican be tempted to play politics over principle to embarrass Clinton and torture the Democrats? Dole should not stoop to such tactics. Will he have the political rectitude to resist?

The trade bill should not die due to cheap political muggings. If Congress is unable to approve an agreement before this year, ratification could be put off indefinitely in a new Congress, which will have the freedom to debate the pact endlessly.

The United States has long championed free trade. Despite some concerns about the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is proving to benefit the United States. More than 100 nations signed the GATT agreement in Morocco last April. U.S. failure to ratify the agreement by year’s end would send a no-confidence message to other nations, particularly those looking for a way out of their commitment.

The Senate and House have shown rare bipartisanship on trade issues. They should renew that cooperation now to do what is best for the nation: Pass the trade legislation this year.