WHITE HOUSE LOBBYING FOR `FAST TRACK' SUPPORT.

Byline: David Espo Associated Press 

President Clinton labored with little apparent success Saturday to line up enough support to pass highly controversial trade legislation, and some House supporters conceded there had been talk of giving up without a vote.

``There's discussion about pulling it,'' said one lawmaker. ``We are all aware that's an alternative.''

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he referred to talks among the relative handful of congressional Democrats who favor ``fast track'' legislation.

White House officials, however, offered no hint of surrender, and top presidential aides met with House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a continuing bipartisan search for votes in advance of today's scheduled showdown.

``I'd say the odds are even money or better'' that it will pass, Gingrich, R-Ga., said at the end of a long day of closed-door meetings.

Several sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that adding a provision bestowing trade preferences on sub-Saharan African nations was a possibility if it would pick up any votes among members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Other sources said there had been discussion about encouraging some opponents of the measure to be absent when the roll was called, thereby making it easier for the bill to pass since all that's needed is a majority of those present and voting. A vote that had been scheduled for Friday was postponed to give Clinton more time to seek votes.

``At this point everything is being dangled out there trying to get a nibble,'' said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.

At the same time, the White House dispatched a phalanx of senior officials to reassure House Democrats that Clinton would not submit to unacceptable Republican demands for concessions on abortion and the census in his drive for votes on the trade bill.

``We had a full and frank exchange in there,'' White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles told reporters after a closed-door session that several Democrats said had been occasionally contentious.

Those lawmakers, requesting anonymity, said rank-and-file Democrats complained that the White House had appeared overeager to reach a deal with the Republican right on issues that touch on abortion and the census as part of regular spending bills needed to fund the government. They added that Bowles and his team had been buffeted by criticism that the White House was negotiating directly with Gingrich and the GOP without allowing Democratic lawmakers to participate.

Even so, Democrats afterward said they had obtained a pledge from John Hilley, a top White House aide, that Clinton would not give in to restrictions on family planning efforts overseas that anti-abortion GOP forces were demanding. Several Democrats quoted Hilley as saying the Republicans were ``on a veto track'' on that issue.

Democratic supporters of abortion rights expressed satisfaction with the turn of events. ``We wanted to make this issue too hot to handle for him,'' Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said of Clinton.

The legislation at the center of the struggle is designed to allow the president to negotiate trade treaties with foreign countries and present them to Congress for yes-or-no votes without possibility of amendment. This process - known as fast track - has been enjoyed by presidents for the past two decades, but has lapsed.

Clinton devoted his weekly radio address to the subject.

``A yes vote is a vote for confidence in the world's strongest economy,'' he said. ``But a no vote says we don't want our country to negotiate lower trade barriers - we're pulling back. We're afraid we can't compete, and we are willing to walk away from our unique world leadership at this moment.''

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PHOTO From left, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman confer about trade during a meeting at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Associated Press