Despite the outpost's troubles, analysts say that the negative subcommittee vote came so early in the budget cycle that there are many months left for a reversal.

What was important about the subcommittee vote is that it was the first time Congress addressed the issues, and this group of Congress said it wanted comprehensive reform.

Both amendments were overwhelmingly defeated in subcommittee votes, and later by the full committee, in a debate that highlighted the party's continuing fault lines.

The subcommittee vote, the first of several hurdles the bill faces in the House and Senate, culminated weeks of negotiations among business, environmental and political leaders.

In a news conference after the subcommittee vote, Mr. Dingell described the auto makers' reaction as "unenthused."

In the latest round of delays the schedule for the launching of Japan's module was set back, but Japanese officials seem more concerned about the subcommittee vote.

In another subcommittee vote, a $61.7 billion reduction was approved in discretionary spending for 1996, a 12 percent or $8.3 billion reduction from the current budget.

Before the subcommittee vote, Councilman Antonio Pagan said: "We already carry the burden for everybody else's guilt.

The action reversed a subcommittee vote in favor of the tax, leaving in limbo the $6 billion program to aid children and elderly who are poor and disabled.

A spokesman for the economic development corporation, Bruce Bodoff, said the agency would try to answer them tomorrow before the subcommittee vote.