WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of 16 lawmakers has asked the Clinton administration to quickly approve licenses for a British drug firm to use its American-owned laboratories to test a Cuban vaccine.

The lawmakers urged the administration to waive restrictions on commerce with Cuba so that SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals could perfect a vaccine against meningitis B.

The Herald reported Wednesday that the administration is considering SmithKline's request to work with -- and potentially compensate -- the Cuban government for access to a vaccine developed at the Instituto Carlos Finlay in Havana.

``Studies suggest that the Cuban vaccine is probably the best candidate for rapid development worldwide because of the unique properties of the vaccine's antigen and the vaccine's established safety and effectiveness for adolescents and adults,'' the lawmakers said in a March 6 letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

``We ask that the State Department expedite the granting of required licenses to SmithKline Beecham so that this important joint research project can proceed without delay,'' said the letter, which The Herald obtained Wednesday.

The letter was signed by Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., the chairman of a foreign operations subcommittee; Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas, the majority whip; Reps. Joseph McDade and James Greenwood, both Pennsylvania Republicans; and California Democrats Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman and Howard Berman, among others.

Another letter to Albright, sent in February by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., among others, made a similar appeal.

About 300,000 people fall victim to meningitis worldwide, the lawmakers said, and about 35,000 die. About half of the cases involve meningitis B.

Asserting that they hoped to limit benefits to the government of Cuban President Fidel Castro, the lawmakers said SmithKline has already stipulated that no U.S. funds will be used for the project, no research in Cuba will involve property confiscated from U.S. citizens and the production of any vaccine for future U.S. use will be manufactured in SmithKline laboratories in Belgium, not in Cuba.

Administration officials said the request is being reviewed by an interagency committee.

Meanwhile, SmithKline representatives told Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on Wednesday that they will seek to compensate Cuba for access to the vaccine by paying with U.S. medicines, not cash, a Menendez aide said. The SmithKline representatives estimated that securing exclusive rights to the Cuban vaccine for five years would cost $10 million to $20 million, the aide said.