SOUTHLAND'S CONTINGENT OKS DEAL BY 16-10 COUNT.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Southern California House members, including a number of last-minute holdouts, voted 16-10 Wednesday in favor of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.

For previously undecided Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, the lack of a security guarantee for Taiwan meant a no vote on the trade deal.

For Reps. Stephen Horn, D-Lakewood, and Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Torrance, who also voted no, human rights concerns outweighed prospects for a China trade boom in their home-district ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

For Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, whose constituency includes a Hollywood film industry eager for increased access to Chinese markets, a vote in favor ``was in the best interest of both Americans and Chinese.''

Other ex-undecideds who joined the House majority in approving PNTR included Reps. Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard; Julian Dixon, D-Los Angeles; and Christopher Cox, R-Newport Beach.

Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, and Grace Napolitano, D-Montebello, voted no. Napolitano had been lobbied at the White House on Tuesday night by President Clinton, who had made approval of PNTR a key goal for his last year in office.

Overall, 11 Southland Republicans and five Democrats voted in favor of PNTR. Eight Democrats and two Republicans opposed the measure.

PNTR will replace annual congressional reviews and votes on ``most favored nation'' trade status for China. It will also trigger a series of new trade agreements with China, including lower tariffs on U.S. goods and widened investment opportunities.

The proposal was backed by Clinton, business interests and Republican leaders. It was opposed by organized labor, Democratic leaders and human rights activists.

Berman made an unsuccessful, last-ditch effort to have PNTR amended so the trade status could be automatically revoked if China attacked, invaded or blockaded Taiwan, a U.S. ally.

``I think it is a terrible thing not to tell the Chinese up front that their threats have serious consequences,'' Berman said. ``I want the generals in the People's Liberation Army, who are involved in most businesses in China, to have to think about the prospect of losing their U.S. markets.''

``We had so much more to gain than to lose by approving PNTR,'' Waxman said. ``I believe it is better to have trade and contact than to isolate China.''

Waxman's views were echoed by Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America and Hollywood's top Washington lobbyist.

``I applaud all those members supporting this bill for recognizing that the citizens of both China and the U.S. will benefit greatly from the granting of PNTR,'' Valenti said after the vote.

``It wasn't a tough decision at all,'' said Horn, who opposed the trade deal even though his congressional district includes all of the Port of Long Beach and most of the adjacent Port of Los Angeles - the nation's main gateways to trade with China.

``I try to reflect my constituents and my conscience,'' Horn said. Despite recent economic growth in China, ``the daily lot of Chinese workers is dismal, with many working 14-hour shifts for 22 cents per hour.''

He stressed that he had also voted against most favored nation status for China every year since joining the House in 1993.

Besides the ports, which lobbied in favor of PNTR, Horn's 38th District includes a large number of union members. Registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.

Millender-McDonald's 37th District includes part of the Port of Los Angeles, as well as Wilmington, Harbor City and other communities with economies largely dependent on port trade.

``I'm frightened to death to give China permanent status,'' she said. ``There are just too many problems with slave labor and other human rights abuses.''

Millender-McDonald also said she could not buy into PNTR backers' promises of an economic boom.

``We have tremendous growth in trade right now, but the results have not been realized in my poor communities,'' she said. ``Now we need to get labor and business together to train unskilled workers so that they can take advantage of the jobs to come.''

``My district has missed out on trade-driven growth,'' said fellow PNTR foe Napolitano. ``The unemployment rate in my district is 10 percent, double the rate for California. I do not believe that PNTR would have reduced local joblessness.''

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, also voted no, having earlier expressed deep misgivings about whether China would honor all facets of the deal.HOW THEY VOTED

TEXT: This is how local representatives voted Wednesday on Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.

YES:

Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita; James Rogan, R-Pasadena; Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles; Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard.

NO:

Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills; Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills.

CAPTION(S):

box

BOX: HOW THEY VOTED (see text)