China Trade: Will Clinton Pull It Off?

On May 2, Representative Ken Bentsen, a second-term Democrat from Houston, found himself sitting in the living room of the White House family residence getting the Full Clinton Treatment. As Bentsen and two dozen other members of Congress munched peanuts and washed them down with Cokes, Martin Lee, chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party and a strong critic of China's repressive human-rights record, made an impassioned plea. "I have never been to China, and I probably never will in my lifetime," lamented Lee. Nevertheless, he said, it was critically important for the U.S. Congress to grant China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR). Then, with considerable emotion, President Clinton pressed the case for dismantling the barriers to trade with China. "How can we address your concerns?" Clinton beseeched the group.

Bentsen, a 41-year-old former investment banker and nephew of ex-Treasury Secretary Lloyd M. Bentsen, was already under strong pressure to vote yes. Compaq Computer, Enron, and Coastal--all located in his district--operate subsidiaries in China. The Port of Houston handles many of China's exports to the U.S. And Texas farmers and the oil-services industry have been clamoring for access to the Chinese market. But like other Democrats, Bentsen had also been pressed by the AFL-CIO to vote against normalizing relations with China in order to preserve U.S. jobs.