TPA Vote Expected On Dec. 6

ByJohn S. McClenahen After nearly five months of being on-again and then off-again, a vote on granting President George W. Bush expedited trade-promotion authority (TPA) is expected to take place Dec. 6 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote on TPA is likely to be close, with a compromise between the House Republican leadership and House Democrats on trade adjustment assistance for jobless workers being the difference between approval and rejection. TPA would allow Congress to accept or reject but not to amend any trade pacts the president agrees to. The White House has been without TPA, formerly known as fast-track authority, since 1994. It's generally thought that most other countries won't seriously bargain with the U.S. in the newly approved round of world trade negotiations unless Bush has TPA.