11.   Clinton is scheduled to go to South America in October and would like to travel there with fast-track negotiating authority assured.

12.   Clinton would like to have the negotiating authority in hand when he travels to Latin America in October.

13.   Clinton failed to rally Democrats to support the negotiating authority in November and had to ask House leaders to pull it from consideration.

14.   Fast-track negotiating authority allows the White House to submit trade accords to the Congress without fear of amendment.

15.   Given the high priority that the administration attaches to trade negotiating authority, Senate Democrats have a great deal of leverage.

16.   He added that the delays in Congress could cause the U.S. to lose negotiating authority in the regional trade pact.

17.   President Clinton won a round in his drive to renew expanded trade negotiating authority when the Senate voted Tuesday to shut off stalling tactics by dissident Democrats.

18.   Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush also plans to continue pushing Congress for trade negotiating authority to craft deals that could lead to more American jobs.

19.   Republicans probably would renew fast-track negotiating authority for Clinton, so long as he drops his insistence on labor and environmental standards.

20.   Separately, Bergsten criticized Congress for failing this week to grant President Bill Clinton fast-track trade negotiating authority.