“Fast-Track” Derailed

This fall President Clinton made “fast-track” negotiating authority—whereby Congress must vote yes or no on trade agreements presented by the president, with no amendments allowed—his top legislative priority. The prospects for passage looked good. Every major newspaper supported it; the business community lobbied for it; the president was at the peak of his popularity; and he pledged to work with the Republican majority in Congress in order to pass it.

Yet in a stunning setbac...