[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6432]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            NO MFN FOR CHINA

  (Mr. FUNDERBURK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FUNDERBURK. Mr. Speaker, dollar signs, business for some United 
States companies, trade and engagements; these seem to be the primary 
arguments for renewing MFN for Communist China.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember in my youth reading ``The Odyssey,'' the 
story about the great Greek hero Odysseus and his trip home after the 
long Trojan War. In one of his adventures he guided his ship through 
the singing of the Sirens. He had to do this without meeting the same 
fate which lured all mariners and their ships to the rocky coast and 
disaster.
  The modern-day lure of the songs of the Sirens is the China market. 
Like Odysseus of old, only President Reagan, unlike recent American 
Presidents, was able to resist this. He built the United States up from 
its self-imposed position of strategic weakness.
  Let us do what is good for the American national interests and resist 
the modern sirens. Do not grant MFN for China, at least until Communist 
China starts to act more like a civilized nation in its treatment of 
its citizens.

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