According to a report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service which the Chosun Ilbo obtained on Wednesday, Congress held a total of 16 lame duck sessions from 1935 through 2006. A major task for most of them was to complete action on appropriations and the budget, but such sessions have seldom handled bills about which the Democratic and Republican parties have strongly disagreed.

Lame duck sessions lasted for an average of 30 days, but the actual period was much shorter given the Christmas holidays. It is unclear whether Congress will open right after Election Day this year, and even if it does, it seems unlikely it will ratify the FTA.

A U.S. congressional source in Washington said most lame duck sessions handle emergency bills such as budget programs and national security, but fundamental disagreements between the two parties mean there will not be enough time to ratify the trade deal with Korea.

Another source said Korean government officials’ hopes that a Democrat-controlled Congress would ratify the FTA during the lame-duck session if Democratic Senator Barack Obama wins the presidency is “a big illusion."

If Obama is elected, Congress will instead shelve all bills until after the president is sworn in rather than opening a lame duck session, the source added.

The CRS report shows that Democrat-controlled congresses simply closed after the presidential elections in 1960, 1976 and 1992, when Democratic presidential candidates won. A win by Obama would therefore probably scupper the chances of the Korea-U.S. FTA. Another obstacle is Washington’s FTAs with Colombia and Panama, which were signed before the trade deal with Korea. A U.S. government official said, "The Bush administration is determined to submit the FTAs to Congress in the order they were signed in. Even if Congress is flatly opposed to the FTA with Colombia, the Bush administration is unlikely to pull the FTA with Korea ahead of the other two bills.

(englishnews@chosun.com )