[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 203 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 203

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should work 
to expand membership in the Agreement on Government Procurement of the 
World Trade Organization and should urge the People's Republic of China 
 to enter into immediate negotiations to join that agreement, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2005

Mr. Rangel (for himself and Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should work 
to expand membership in the Agreement on Government Procurement of the 
World Trade Organization and should urge the People's Republic of China 
 to enter into immediate negotiations to join that agreement, and for 
                            other purposes.

Whereas nondiscriminatory, procompetitive, merit-based, and technology-neutral 
        procurement of goods and services is essential so that governments can 
        acquire the best goods to meet their needs for the best value;
Whereas the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) of the World Trade 
        Organization (WTO) provides a multilateral framework of rights and 
        obligations founded on such principles;
Whereas the United States is a member of the GPA, along with Canada, the 
        European Union (including its 25 member States: Austria, Belgium, 
        Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, 
        Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, 
        the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, 
        Sweden, and the United Kingdom), Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, 
        Korea, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands with respect to Aruba, Norway, 
        Singapore, and Switzerland;
Whereas Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Jordan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Oman, 
        Panama, and Taiwan are currently negotiating to accede to the GPA;
Whereas the People's Republic of China joined the WTO in December 2001, 
        signaling to the international community its commitment to greater 
        openness;
Whereas when China joined the WTO, it committed, in its protocol of accession, 
        to negotiate entry into the GPA ``as soon as possible'';
Whereas more than 3 years after its entry into the WTO, China has not commenced 
        negotiations to join the GPA;
Whereas recent legal developments in China illustrate the importance and urgency 
        of expanding membership in the GPA;
Whereas in 2002, China enacted a law on government procurement that incorporates 
        preferences for domestic goods and services;
Whereas the first sector for which the Chinese Government has sought to 
        implement the new government procurement law is computer software;
Whereas in March 2005 the Chinese Government released draft regulations 
        governing the procurement of computer software;
Whereas the draft regulations require that non-Chinese software companies meet 
        conditions relating to outsourcing of software development work to 
        China, technology transfer, and similar requirements, in order to be 
        eligible to participate in the Chinese Government market;
Whereas as a result of the proposed regulations, it appears likely that a very 
        substantial amount of American software will be excluded from the 
        government procurement process in China;
Whereas United States software companies have made a substantial commitment to 
        the Chinese market and have made a substantial contribution to the 
        development of China's software industry;
Whereas the outright exclusion of substantial amounts of software not of Chinese 
        origin that is apparently contemplated in the regulations is out of step 
        with domestic preferences that exist in the procurement laws and 
        practices of other WTO member countries, including the United States;
Whereas the draft regulations do not adhere to the principles of 
        nondiscriminatory, procompetitive, merit-based, and technology-neutral 
        procurement embodied in the GPA;
Whereas the software piracy rate in China has never fallen below 90 percent over 
        the past 10 years;
Whereas Chinese Government entities represent a very significant portion of the 
        software market in China that is not dominated by piracy;
Whereas the combined effect of rampant software piracy and the proposed 
        discriminatory government procurement regulations will be a nearly 
        impenetrable barrier to market access for the United States software 
        industry in China;
Whereas the United States trade deficit with China in 2004 was $162,000,000,000, 
        the highest with any economy in the world, and a 12.4 percent increase 
        over 2003;
Whereas China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, has committed to rectify this serious 
        imbalance by increasing China's imports of goods and services from the 
        United States;
Whereas the proposed software procurement regulations that were described by the 
        Chinese Government in November 2004 incorporate policies that are fully 
        at odds with Premier Wen's commitment to increase China's imports from 
        the United States, and will add significantly to the trade imbalance 
        between the United States and China;
Whereas once it is fully implemented, the discriminatory aspects of China's 
        government procurement law will apply to all goods and services that the 
        government procures; and
Whereas other developing countries may follow the lead of China: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Government of the United States should strive to 
        expand membership in the Agreement on Government Procurement of 
        the World Trade Organization (WTO);
            (2) the Government of the United States should seek 
        commitments from the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to enter into immediate negotiations to accede to the 
        Agreement on Government Procurement of the WTO, in accordance 
        with commitments made by China in 2001 upon joining the WTO;
            (3) the Government of the United States should seek a 
        commitment from the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to suspend implementation of its law on government 
        procurement, pending the conclusion of negotiations to accede 
        to the Agreement on Government Procurement of the WTO;
            (4) the Government of the United States should seek 
        commitments from the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China and other countries that are not yet members of the 
        Agreement on Government Procurement of the WTO to implement the 
        principles of openness, transparency, fair competition based on 
        merit, nondiscrimination, and accountability in their 
        government procurement as embodied in that agreement; and
            (5) the President should direct all appropriate officials 
        of the United States to raise these concerns with appropriate 
        officials of the People's Republic of China and other trading 
        partners.
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