[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 38 (Friday, March 21, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1284-H1285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BAD NEWS ON TRADE DEFICITS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. The Department of 
Commerce released yesterday more bad news on trade figures and more bad 
news for American workers.
  Trade figures show that this past month we had a trade deficit of 
$12.7 billion; setting records, again breaking records, bad news 
records month after month after month after month.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, with the countries that we have had the most 
problems with in terms of our trade numbers, in terms of loss of jobs, 
the countries where most of our trade policy has been directed, Mexico 
and China were where the worst news came from.
  The trade deficit with Mexico went up 50 percent from 12 months ago 
this month, with those trade figures costing, again, thousands of 
American jobs that have gone south. The trade figures with China, the 
trade deficit has gone up a billion dollars over 1 year ago in the same 
month.
  Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to go down the path of free trade with 
larger and larger trade deficits, with a situation that is clearly 
costing us thousands and thousands of American jobs. At the same time, 
we are seeing a push from the administration and from Republican 
leadership in this House asking for fast track for Chile so that we can 
negotiate another trade agreement, another trade agreement that will 
not work, another trade agreement that will cost us jobs.
  We are seeing the administration push for negotiating for Chinese 
admittance to the World Trade Organization. Again, a step that clearly 
will cost more American jobs.

[[Page H1285]]

  Our trade deficit with China has grown to the point that within a 
year or so it will overtake our trade deficit with Japan, yet we 
continue to give most favored nation status recognition to China and 
continue to give China more trading privileges, as China continues to 
violate international trading norms, international human rights norms, 
international norms for all kinds of behavior in the world community.
  Just to take a few examples, Mr. Speaker. As we talk about entry into 
the World Trade Organization, and as we talk later about China getting 
more trade advantages from this country, as we have unfortunately done 
year after year, China is a nation that when threatened by free 
elections in neighboring Taiwan, sent missiles into the straits of 
Taiwan, shooting in the water near the country of Taiwan, sending them 
a message about free elections.
  China is a country where a relative of the prime minister smuggled 
some 2,000 AK-47's into San Francisco, in obvious direct violation of 
American law.
  China is a country that sold nuclear technology to rogue nations in 
south Asia, again in violation of international norms.
  China is a country that has violated all kinds of human rights with 
slave labor, with child labor; a country where 12-year-old children in 
slave labor camps make toys for 12-year-old children to play with on 
America's playgrounds.

                              {time}  1345

  It is clear that this is not a country we should reward with 
continued most-favored-nation status, with continued trade advantages. 
This is not a country we should allow into the World Trade Organization 
until they improve their policies on human rights, until they improve 
their policies on the CD roms that they have stolen, intellectual 
property rights that they have violated across the board.
  Indeed, these last numbers from the Commerce Department show clearly 
again the tens of thousands, the hundreds of thousands of jobs that our 
policy with China has cost American workers. It is a nation that has 
violated all kinds of human rights, ignored international norms, has 
violated all kinds of standards around the world, yet we continue to 
offer them most-favored-nation status and the administration continues 
to negotiate with them on admittance to the World Trade Organization.
  Congressman Gephardt, the minority leader, has introduced legislation 
with several others of us that Congress should be part of this 
negotiation, that Congress should have to vote on admittance of China 
to the World Trade Organization. I would hope that the Speaker and the 
leaders of this House would see fit that we should, as this body, have 
input into this decision whether China, whose trade deficit with us 
continues to mushroom and who continues to violate all kinds of world 
standards, that we get the opportunity to vote on whether China is 
admitted into the World Trade Organization.
  I ask the Members of this body, particularly on the other side of the 
aisle, on the Republican side of the aisle, to push their leaders into 
bringing this to a vote so we in this body can have some input and help 
make that decision whether we admit China into the World Trade 
Organization.

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