WASHINGTON (PAI) - The incoming 110th Congress, with a Democratic-run House and a 51-49 Democratic edge in the Senate, will see "a major fight" on trade, three newly elected lawmakers predict. And the fight will spread to the Senate, which has been historically more pro-"free trade" than the House, a new senator adds.

"The White House can't come to us with a prototype fast track bill without labor and environmental standards," said Senator-elect Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) "They understand that if they do so, they will lose."

In the roll-call on the last trade pact, the job-losing Central American Free Trade Agreement, 15 Democrats deserted workers and voted for it, giving GOP President George W. Bush a narrow win. It lacked enforceable labor protections. Bush is pushing similar no-labor-rights free trade pacts with Peru, Vietnam and Colombia.

"The first battle will be to halt fast track," which expires in June, United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard added. Fast track lets GOP President George W. Bush bargain trade treaties and send them to Congress for up-or-down votes, without change.

The Journal pointed out that the bloc of Democrats who support free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA has diminished over the years with the American job losses that have taken place. Since 1999, according to the AFL-CIO Industrial Unions Council, the U.S. has lost 3 million factory jobs, half of them unionized. In addition, the U.S. trade deficit is headed towards a record $800 billion this year.