[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 601 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 601

 Recognizing 35 years of cooperation in science and technology between 
         the United States and the People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 12, 2014

 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Cardin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing 35 years of cooperation in science and technology between 
         the United States and the People's Republic of China.

Whereas mutually beneficial cooperation between the Governments of the People's 
        Republic of China and the United States in promoting science and 
        technology has made tremendous strides since the signing of the 
        Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government 
        of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation in Science and 
        Technology, done at Washington January 31, 1979, which was the first 
        inter-governmental agreement since the United States and the People's 
        Republic of China established diplomatic relations in 1979;
Whereas the Governments of the People's Republic of China and the United States 
        have become active partners in fostering research and innovation since 
        the signing of the Agreement Between the Government of the United States 
        and the Government of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation in 
        Science and Technology in 1979;
Whereas cooperation in science and technology since 1979 has brought numerous 
        benefits to both countries, including--

    (1) shared information on issues such as climate variability, seismic 
activity, and agricultural science;

    (2) joint publication of scientific and technological research; and

    (3) exchange of technical assistance and best practices in areas such 
as food and pharmaceutical safety and environmental cleanup;

Whereas the continued promotion of science and technology in both countries 
        holds the potential to advance shared interests, as well as the 
        interests of United States partners and allies in the region and 
        globally, including in mitigating the effects of climate change, 
        securing the availability of water, food and energy, and improving 
        public health, disease prevention, and pandemic response;
Whereas the government-to-government relationship conducted under the Agreement 
        Between the Government of the United States and the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China on Cooperation in Science and Technology now 
        consists of some 30 subordinate agency-to-agency protocols, including--

    (1) cooperation between the Department of Energy and the Chinese 
Ministry of Science and Technology to form the Clean Energy Research Center 
to explore advances in clean vehicles, advanced coal technology, and 
building energy efficiency;

    (2) cooperation between the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural 
Research Service and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology on 
agricultural biotechnology, natural resource management, food safety, and 
similar issues;

    (3) cooperation between the National Institutes of Health and the 
counterparts in China, including the Natural Science Foundation of China 
and Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to conduct basic and 
clinical biomedical research;

    (4) cooperation between the Environmental Protection Agency and the 
counterparts in China, including the Chinese Ministry of Science and 
Technology and the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection to support 
joint environmental research, and to exchange best practices on 
environmental legislation and enforcement;

    (5) exchange of personnel between the Chinese Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
to develop information exchange and response mechanisms for influenza 
pandemics;

    (6) collaboration between the Food and Drug Administration and food and 
medical regulators in China to enhance the safety of imported food and 
medical products from China through better information sharing and access 
to production facilities; and

    (7) collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention and Peking University Health Center (former Beijing Medical 
University) to study child health issues and health hazards caused by 
environmental factors;

Whereas many educational institutions in the United States and China have 
        established partnerships to further science and technology research, 
        including--

    (1) Northwestern University, based in Evanston, Illinois, which has 
developed strategic partnerships in China, such as the Wanxiang Fellows 
Program, which allows Northwestern students to study emerging energy 
challenges and renewable energy innovations in the United States and China; 
and

    (2) University of California, Davis, based in Davis, California, which 
has partnered with China's Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University 
in Shaanxi province to establish the Sino-U.S. Joint Research Center for 
Food Safety to promote international collaborative research for food safety 
in China and the United States;

Whereas the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has signed 97 inter-
        institutional cooperative partnership agreements with various 
        institutions that are headquartered in China in the fields of 
        engineering, food sciences, and transportation, including a high-speed 
        rail research partnership between the university's Railway 
        Transportation and Engineering Center and China's oldest and most 
        recognized railway engineering school, Southwest Jiaotong University;
Whereas, on December 5, 2014, China and the United States will commemorate the 
        30th anniversary, and renew for another ten years, the CHELBI 
        partnership, which has created the largest joint venture engineering 
        consulting firm in China, having undertaken over 600 bridge, road, and 
        other projects the designs of which meet World Bank and Asian 
        Development Bank standards, and has made significant progress in 
        engineering knowledge-sharing for road, bridge, and other project design 
        and construction between the United States and China;
Whereas several United States Department of Energy national laboratories have 
        established partnerships with research institutions in China to advance 
        energy research, including--

    (1) Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, which has worked 
with the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) to 
promote energy-efficient vehicle technologies and clean transportation 
fuels in China since 2003; and

    (2) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, 
which has formed the China Energy Group to work collaboratively with groups 
in China to understand the dynamics of energy use, improve energy 
efficiency, reduce emissions in China, strengthen Chinese capabilities in 
energy efficiency, and enhance relationships on energy efficiency among 
Chinese, United States, and international institutions;

Whereas, in 2013, the State of California and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce 
        signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a working group to 
        deepen cooperation in fields such as biological pharmaceuticals, 
        information technology, agriculture, and energy;
Whereas the exchange of ideas in science and technology and shared research 
        conducted in China and the United States holds the potential to increase 
        United States exports of non-sensitive commercial technologies to China;
Whereas the agreement reached in November 2014 between the United States and the 
        People's Republic of China to expand the scope of goods covered by the 
        Information Technology Agreement will further deepen trade, investment, 
        and mutual cooperation in science and technology;
Whereas collaboration in science and technology since 1979 has provided both 
        countries with the technological foundation to make ambitious pledges to 
        reduce future emissions of carbon dioxide; and
Whereas people-to-people exchanges conducted under the Agreement Between the 
        Government of the United States and the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China on Cooperation in Science and Technology have fostered 
        mutual understanding of both countries and have led to joint research in 
        science and technology: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the cooperation in science and technology 
        between the Governments of the United States and the People's 
        Republic of China since 1979;
            (2) emphasizes the importance of open markets, intellectual 
        property rights, and the free exchange of information to the 
        development of science and technology; and
            (3) expresses continued support for the principles of the 
        Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation in 
        Science and Technology, done at Washington January 31, 1979, to 
        which both countries remain committed.
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