[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 110 (Monday, July 10, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9638-S9641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. HELMS:
  S. 1015. A bill to provide for the liquidation or reliquidation of 
certain entries of pharmaceutical grade phospholipids; to the Committee 
on Finance.


      legislation correcting the reclassification of phospholipids

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, today I once again offer legislation to 
correct an obviously unintended and mistaken reclassification of 
pharmaceutical-grade, FDA-approved egg yolk phospholipid by HTS, the 
Harmonized Tariff Classification System. Another provision of this 
legislation has been accomplished in the Uruguay round GATT agreement.
  Kabi Pharmacia is a U.S. company in Clayton, NC. Kabi has become a 
leading employer in rural Johnston County; it has 175 employees engaged 
in high-technology manufacturing and research work. The main product 
manufactured by Kabi Pharmacia in Clayton is intralipid, a unique 
intravenous feeding solution. Kabi must import a key, unique intralipid 
ingredient--pharmaceutical-grade, FDA-approved egg yolk phospholipid, 
because it is made only by Kabi's parent company in Sweden.
  The duty on Kabi's phospholipid was set at 1.5 percent in the 1970's 
when Kabi began operations in Clayton. Beginning in March 1991, the 
unintentional HTS reclassification of the phospholipid more than 
tripled this duty, a situation that could not be corrected in the GATT 
agreement because it is a matter of U.S. law--which, of course, only 
Congress can change.
  Mr. President, my legislation would return the rate on the 
phospholipid to 1.5 percent for the period from March 29, 1991, until 
January 1, 1995, when the duty for Kabi's phospholipid and other 
pharmaceutical components and products became zero under the GATT 
agreement, and refund the unintended duty increase. The amount of the 
unintended duty increase is $396,779.16.
  Mr. President, there has been no disagreement that the duty increase 
on Kabi's phospholipid was unintended and unwarranted. Simple fairness 
emphasizes the need for the legislation I offer today. The correction 
of the erroneous HTS reclassification must be retroactive in order that 
there can be an equitable redress. It is a matter of simple fairness 
and equity.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this legislation (S. 1015) 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1015

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PHARMACEUTICAL GRADE PHOSPHOLIPIDS.

       Notwithstanding section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
     U.S.C. 1514) or any other provision of law, upon proper 
     request filed with the Customs Service not later than 90 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, any entry, or 
     withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, of pharmaceutical 
     grade phospholipids that--
       (1) was made under subheading 2923.20.00 of the Harmonized 
     Tariff Schedule of the United States;
       (2) with respect to which a lower rate of duty would have 
     applied if such entry or withdrawal had been made under 
     subheading 2923.20.10 or 2923.20.20 of such Schedule; and
       (3) was made after March 29, 1991, and before January 1, 
     1995;

     shall be liquidated or reliquidated as if such lower rate of 
     duty applied to such entry or withdrawal.
                                 ______

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 1016. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue 
a certificate of documentation with the appropriate endorsement for 
employment in the coastwise trade for the vessel Magic Carpet; to the 
Committee on 

[[Page S 9639]]
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.


                      jones act waiver legislation

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague, the 
distinguished senior Senator from Massachusetts, in introducing a bill 
to allow the vessel Magic Carpet to be employed in coastwise trade of 
the United States. This boat has a relatively small passenger capacity, 
carrying up to 6 passengers on a charter business based out of Martha's 
Vineyard, MA. The purpose of this bill is to waive those sections of 
the Jones Act which prohibit foreign-made vessels from operating in 
coastwise trade. The waiver is necessary because, under the law, a 
vessel is considered foreign-made unless all major components of its 
hull and superstructure are fabricated in the United States and the 
vessel is assembled entirely in the United States. This vessel was 
originally built in a foreign shipyard in 1959, but since then has been 
owned and operated by American citizens. The owners of Magic Carpet 
have invested substantially more than the cost of building the boat in 
making repairs to it and maintaining it--in American shipyards with 
American products. This particular vessel is also of some historical 
value--Magic Carpet is a classic wooden yawl--few of these vessels 
still exist today and very few operate along the east coast. The owners 
wish to start a small business, a charter boat operation, seasonally 
taking people out of Martha's Vineyard.
  After reviewing the facts in the case of the Magic Carpet, I find 
that this waiver does not compromise our national readiness in times of 
national emergency, which is the fundamental purpose of the Jones Act 
requirement. While I generally support the provisions of the Jones Act, 
I believe the specific facts in this case warrant a waiver to permit 
the Magic Carpet to engage in coastwise trade. I hope and trust the 
Senate will agree and will speedily approve the bill being introduced 
today.
                                 ______

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 1017. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue 
a certificate of documentation with the appropriate endorsement for 
employment in the coastwise trade for the vessel Chrissy; to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.


                      jones act waiver legislation

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague, the 
distinguished senior Senator from Massachusetts, in introducing a bill 
to allow the vessel Chrissy to be employed in coastwise trade of the 
United States. This boat has a relatively small passenger capacity, 
carrying up to 6 passengers on a charter business based out of 
Gloucester, Massachusetts. Chrissy is a historical vessel, built in 
1912 in Friendship, Maine and is one of the last remaining Friendship 
sloops. The purpose of this bill is to waive those sections of the 
Jones Act which prohibit vessels from operating in coastwise trade 
without proper documentation of its chain of ownership. The vessel was 
built 83 years ago in Maine, but along the way the documentation has 
been lost. It is my hope that a document will be issued which will 
allow the owner to start a small business, a charter boat operation, 
seasonally taking people out of Gloucester.
  I hope and trust the Senate will agree and will speedily approve the 
bill being introduced today.
                                 ______

      By Mr. HELMS:
  S. 1018. A bill for the relief of Clarence P. Stewart; to the 
Committee on Governmental Affairs.


                   the clarence p. stewart relief act

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, today I offer a private bill to direct the 
Secretary of Agriculture to right a wrong committed against a dedicated 
public servant.
  Clarence P. Stewart of Lillington, NC, served 23 years with the 
Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service [ASCS] at the 
Department of Agriculture. In April 1981, Mr. Stewart was North 
Carolina State Executive Director when, during the transition to a new 
administration, the ASCS decided to remove all State Executive 
Directors as part of an what the Department described as a reduction-
in-force [RIF].
  Mr. Stewart considered appealing the ASCS decision but was told by 
his superior at the ASCS not to bother, that he had no right to appeal 
the dismissal action. Unfortunately, Mr. Stewart accepted this 
information at face value and did not appeal the ASCS decision.
  Mr. President, years later, Mr. Stewart learned that, as a veteran, 
he did in fact have a right to appeal his dismissal from the ASCS. He 
also learned that 24 other State Executive Directors who had been 
dismissed at the same time as Stewart had appealed their dismissals to 
the Merit Systems Protections Board and they had won. In this appeal, 
known as the Blalock case, the Merit
 Systems Protection Board found that the State Directors had in fact 
been removed for cause rather than separated pursuant to RIF and as a 
result could be removed only if they were given advance notice and an 
opportunity to reply. The Merit Systems Protection Board ordered the 
Department of Agriculture to reinstate, retroactively, the appellants 
to their positions.

  Although none of the appellants actually returned to work, the 
Department of Agriculture, as part of a settlement agreement, gave each 
appellant 1 year and 10 months salary and recomputed retirement 
benefits based on this increased salary.
  Once Mr. Stewart learned of the Blalock decision he filed an appeal 
with the Merit Systems Protection Board. Because his appeal was filed 
late, the MSPB dismissed Mr. Stewart's appeal. He then filed a petition 
for review with the MSPB, but that too was denied. Mr. Stewart, 
therefore, has exhausted all possible avenues of administrative review.
  Mr. Stewart is a North Carolina citizen who gave years of faithful 
service to his State and country. He was wrongfully removed from his 
job as North Carolina State Director of the Agricultural Stabilization 
and Conservation Service. At the time, he was told he had no right to 
appeal the dismissal when, as a decorated veteran who served his 
country valiantly in World War II, he had a very real right to appeal. 
Mr. President, I doubt that any of our colleagues believe that this 
good man should be punished for having taken the word of his superior.
  But for his superior's mistake, Mr. Stewart would have filed a timely 
appeal and would have prevailed just as the other 24 appellants did in 
the Blalock case. Mr. President, I do hope that in the interest of 
equity Mr. Stewart will receive the same benefits that were afforded 
the other State Directors.
                                 ______

      By Mr. BAUCUS:
  S. 1019. A bill to direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to 
examine the impacts of whirling disease, and other parasites and 
pathogens, on trout in the Madison River, MT, and similar natural 
habitats, and for other purposes.


                 whirling disease response act of 1995
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, in ``A River Runs Through It,'' Norman 
Maclean wrote, ``in our family, there was no clear line between 
religion and flyfishing.''
  These words sum up the way we Montanans feel about our blue ribbon 
trout streams. Great flyfishermen--men like Bud Lily and Dan Bailey--
are legends in Montana. And Montana rivers--the Madison, Yellowstone, 
Missouri, Bighorn, and Bighole--are the heart and soul of our State. We 
mark our calendars and plan our weekends around caddis and stone fly 
hatches or peak grasshopper season. These outstanding trout streams are 
in large part what makes Montana ``the last best place.''
  But these rivers hold more that recreational value for Montanans. 
Fishing is big business. It is the engine that drives the economies of 
many communities throughout Montana. In fact, the net economic value of 
fishing in Montana is estimated to be nearly $300 million a year.
  The discovery of whirling disease on the Madison River in late 1994 
puts Montana's wild trout fishery at great risk. Whirling disease is a 
parasite that attacks the cartilage of young trout, particularly 
rainbow trout. Its impact has been devastating to rainbow trout 
populations on the Madison River, where whirling disease has caused a 
90-percent decline in the last 3 years.
  Whirling disease has also been detected in four other Montana river 
drainages as well as in Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, California, Colorado, 
Wyoming, and Utah.

[[Page S 9640]]

  Montana has taken the challenge of fighting whirling disease head on. 
Flyfishermen, scientists, State and Federal officials have joined 
together to learn more about this disease and find solutions. Today, I 
am introducing legislation that will better equip concerned Montanans 
to effectively deal with whirling disease and minimize its impacts to 
our world class wild trout fisheries.
  The Whirling Disease Response Act of 1995 focuses on three 
objectives: coordination, containment, and research.
  First, the Whirling Disease Response Act coordinates all existing 
data and research conducted to date on whirling disease. The act 
requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to compile, within 180 
days, a report that summarizes all efforts to date with respect to 
whirling disease, to identify gaps in the available scientific 
information, and to make recommendations as to how the Federal 
Government can be a more effective partner to States confronted with 
whirling disease.
  Second, the act requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to modify the 
Ennis Fish Hatchery so that it is a complete containment facility. This 
hatchery is critically important to wild trout research as well as to 
maintaining healthy trout fisheries throughout the United States. The 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must make sure that this hatchery is not 
infected with whirling disease or any other water borne parasite.
  Third, and most important, this act requires the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service to significantly increase its role in whirling disease 
research. As debilitating as this disease is, relatively little is 
known about how to stop its spread. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
must make the fight against whirling disease a top priority. They must 
work with affected States, universities, and sportsmen toward a 
solution on whirling disease. This act makes whirling disease research 
a priority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  While Montana has a significant stake in fighting whirling disease, 
it is not alone--19 other States are impacted by whirling disease. It 
is in America's best interest that we work aggressively to minimize the 
impact whirling disease has on our trout fisheries. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues from other affected States to see that we 
make headway in minimizing the impact whirling disease has on America's 
blue ribbon trout streams.
                                 ______

      By Mr. FEINGOLD:
  S.J. Res. 37. A joint resolution disapproving the extension of 
nondiscriminatory treatment--most-favored-nation treatment--to the 
products of the People's Republic of China; to the Committee on 
Finance.


          disapproval of most-favored-nation status for china

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President in 1974 Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik 
amendment to the 1974 Omnibus Trade Act establishing a linkage between 
human rights and most-favored-nation [MFN] trade status for nonmarket 
economies. The legislation was largely responsible, in my view, for the 
fantastic success of United States efforts to secure the freedom of 
movement for over 1 million Jews and other persecuted minorities from 
the Soviet Union.
  Since 1989, when the Chinese military brutally gunned down hundreds 
of protectors in Tianmen Square and cracked down on the blossoming 
dissident movement in China, there have been efforts to link Chinese 
MFN to human rights improvements.
  In 1991, legislation to set conditions for the extension of MFN to 
China was passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and the 
Senate, only to be vetoed by President Bush. The House overrode the 
veto, but the Senate sustained it by a mere one vote. In 1992 Congress 
again passed bills to revoke MFN status for products manufactured by 
Chinese state-owned companies. President Bush vetoed that as well, and 
once again the Senate sustained the veto.
  When President Clinton came to office in 1993, he issued an Executive 
order specifying seven areas in which the Chinese would need to make 
``significant progress'' if MFN were to be extended in 1994. I was one 
of those who strongly condemned the action of the administration when 
it abandoned this position in 1994, because I believe it undermined the 
President's own credibility on human rights, and relegated U.S. human 
rights advocacy from a policy with teeth to one of rhetoric and 
symbolism. For the same reasons, I am disappointed that despite a year 
in which freedoms further diminished in China, President Clinton 
announced on June 2 that he would seek to extend MFN status to China 
again this year.
  I am most outraged, though, Mr. President, that the United States 
would even consider extending MFN to China at precisely the moment that 
the Chinese have arrested a prominent human rights activist and 
American citizen, Mr. Henry Wu, and threatened to try him for espionage 
and subject him to the death penalty. This is yet another disgraceful 
mark on China's human rights record, and will hopefully compel us to 
respond finally with the toughest human rights policy possible.
  Mr. President, that is why I am introducing today a joint resolution 
of disapproval, consistent with the Jackson-Vanik amendment of 1974, of 
the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment to products of the 
People's Republic of China.
  There is no evidence, Mr. President, that the granting of 
unconditional MFN status to China--an element of a so-called policy of 
``constructive engagement''--has improved China's human rights behavior 
at all. Both Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and Pacific Affairs 
Winston Lord and Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and 
Humanitarian Affairs John Shattuck have said publicly that the human 
rights situation has not improved in China. The State Department's own 
1994 report acknowledges that ``In 1994, there continued to be 
widespread and well-documented human rights abuses in China.'' From the 
events of the last 6 months, in fact, one can only conclude that the 
situation has worsened--even with MFN and robust trade.
  The Chinese Government continues to exercise significant control on 
opposition and dissent; to abuse systematically is prisoners, including 
the use of slave labor and the alleged organ transplant of executed 
prisoners; and to impose harsh regulations in Tibet, while refusing to 
engage in any dialog with Nobel Peace prize laureate the Dalai Lama.
  In the last 2 months alone, several prominent intellectuals have been 
detained while their homes have been searched simply for signing 
petitions in support of more political openness. More have been taken 
into custody and interrogated about their activities. Some have been 
questioned, released, and then sent away from Beijing, while others 
have just disappeared, including China's most prominent dissident, Wei 
Jeisheing, whose whereabouts since February are unknown, except to the 
extent that he is confirmed to be in police custody. Two weeks ago, 
Chen Ziming, another well-known prodemocracy activist, was suddenly 
reimprisoned after being released on a medical parole last year.
  Stricter security laws have been adopted by the Politburo, and 
Beijing seems intent on limiting access of Chinese citizens to the tens 
of thousands of international nongovernmental organizations that will 
be in China this September for the U.N. Fourth World Conference on 
Women.
  As the leader of the free world, the United States has the 
responsibility to work to protect human rights worldwide. The most 
recent action of the Chinese Government against an American citizen 
makes it a personal issue for many us.
  On June 19 Mr. Harry Wu entered northwest China, with a legal Chinese 
visa and with a valid United States passport, and was immediately 
detained by Chinese officials. For several days, China refused to 
confirm that it was in fact holding an American citizen, and in effect 
denied United States officials the access to our citizens that is 
supposedly protected under a United States-China Consular Convention. A 
U.S. diplomat was even sent on a wild goose chase throughout the 
northwest provinces earlier this month in search of Mr. Wu.
  The announcement this weekend that Mr. Wu is going to be tried as a 
spy and potentially subject to the death penalty is the one of
 the most egregious 

[[Page S 9641]]
violations I can think of. After spending 19 years in Chinese prison 
camps, and then seeking refuge in the United States, Mr. Wu has been 
actively researching the abuse of Chinese prisoners, including the 
trade of human body parts from executed prisoners to party officials. 
He has produced a film which was aired on the British Broadcasting 
Corp., published articles on the subject, and testified before 
congressional committees. He has publicized what can happen when the 
State has the will and instruments to take these actions, and has 
fought to halt this gruesome practice in China.

  Mr. President, no one can possibly be deceived into thinking that Mr. 
Wu was arrested by Chinese officials for any other reason except to 
silence him. He is being threatened with death for uncovering horrid 
human rights abuses in China. The U.S. and international reactions must 
be anything but muted or conciliatory.
  Earlier this year, the administration was willing to play hardball 
with trade when it came to Chinese piracy of software, and threatened 
to impose $1 billion worth of sanctions against products of specific 
state-owned industries. The threat worked, and the United States 
achieved its goals. I would entreat the administration to address the 
plight of a human being just as seriously.
  My joint resolution is intended to send the message that we cannot 
have business as usual with China when human rights advocates, such as 
Harry Wu, are under the threat of death. In my view, MFN should not 
have been extended to China this year at all given its human rights 
record, but now, especially, we cannot offer conciliations of this 
kind.
  China's human rights record is deteriorating, despite MFN, and there 
is little, if no, evidence that economic engagement is improving the 
human rights situation in China, as was earlier promised. Though 
China's economy is expanding brilliantly, political change is not 
coming: in fact, the Chinese Government appears to be doing everything 
within its power to ensure that economic development does not bring 
political liberalization. If anything, the Chinese need MFN to continue 
the trade and investment on which its economic development depends. For 
this reason, we must use MFN as a lever to protect human rights in 
China, and an American human rights crusader who is facing death.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of resolution be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the joint resolution ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 37

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     Congress does not approve the extension of the authority 
     contained in section 402(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 
     recommended by the President to the Congress on June 2, 1995, 
     with respect to the People's Republic of China.
     

                          ____________________