[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 46 (Thursday, April 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1696-H1699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CHINESE COMMUNIST COMPANY COSCO IS THREAT TO UNITED STATES NATIONAL 
                                SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham] is 
recognized for 30 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, my friend from Virginia [Mr. Moran] just 
talked about human rights and he makes many, many good points, and I 
support the gentleman's assessments.
  Let me say that I would ask the gentleman to support us, the attorney 
general from California and all of the police chiefs in the State of 
California, and I am sure there are other States that are affected. 
They brought some pretty gruesome pictures of children being imported 
from Mexico, we are talking 7-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds and 
teenagers, across the border to serve in methamphetamine labs across 
the United States.
  One out of four of these exploded in fires, and they had grizzly 
pictures of these children burned. Not over a period of weeks or months 
or years, but these children are dying within minutes of breathing in 
the fumes and the chemicals of methamphetamines.
  I will work with the gentleman. We do not have to look very far, and 
I understand that, yes, there are human rights violations like these, 
but even within our own borders. I think it is criminal, and we ought 
to do everything we can to stop it.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I thank the 
gentleman for his concern, which I know is very sincere and his 
commitment to do something about it. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Let me just say briefly, Mr. Speaker, that the 
gentleman that spoke before, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] 
talked about the Republicans destroying the environment; and I would 
like to make just about 30 seconds' worth of comments.
  The gentleman has a right to his opinion, only he states it as fact, 
and I would say that the gentleman is factually challenged. He has a 
right to his view, but those from the left that would take all the 
power in Washington, DC, and control that power, whether it be 
environmental, whether it be education, whether it be private property, 
whether it be religious beliefs, and control it within the walls of 
this body, I disagree with.
  Let me give a classic example. The Superfund, which was created to 
clean up toxic wastesites, over 70 percent of the dollars that we 
allocate to clean it up go to trial lawyers in litigation. What we are 
saying is that over 85 percent of the cleanup of these Superfund sites 
is done by the State and the people within that State.

  Now, it is up to your opinion, Mr. Speaker, whether having the money 
and having it wasted here in Washington, DC, over 70 percent are 
getting 90 percent of the dollars down to the State, who actually does 
the cleanup, and focusing the money on the problem instead of 
bureaucracy. There are two different views there.
  The EPA, the dollars go to over 50 percent of the bureaucracy, and we 
believe on the Republican side, with many of our colleagues on the 
other side, that it is more important to get the dollars to clean up 
clean air, more important to get the dollars out of those that pollute 
the air, and support this country.
  With those comments I would like to move on to the title subject 
tonight, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about COSCO. Not Price Club, Mr. 
Chairman, as we know it, not Costco or Price Club, as many Americans 
know it, but the China Ocean Shipping Company owned and controlled by 
only one CEO, chief executive officer, and that chief executive officer 
is Communist China itself.
  There is no board of directors, there are no bosses above COSCO or 
these other corporations set up by Communist China. They all answer and 
are directed, and if they do not, one can imagine the consequences.
  What I want to speak to tonight is that recently, within the last 
couple of days, a judge, just the day before yesterday, agreed to 
examine the validity

[[Page H1697]]

of the lease made by the Port of Long Beach to a shipping company owned 
by the Communist Chinese Government.
  This is what the COSCO president, a Communist Chinese, says about its 
shipping company: Call the charges totally false. A handful of U.S. 
individuals with ulterior motives have made use of the media to 
fabricate reports that have gravely injured the reputation of COSCO.
  In the same article, the newspaper article, and I quote, COSCO's past 
problems, however, have given its critics ammunition. Six of these 
ships were cited for safety violations by our Coast Guard last year and 
considered unsafe. A COSCO ship, owned by Communist China again, 
recently plowed into a New Orleans dock in December, injuring 116 
people. Customs officials found over 2,000 AK-47's being smuggled into 
Oakland last year by COSCO. The company that makes the AK-47's, the 
company that distributes the AK-47's and COSCO are all controlled by 
the same chief executive officer: Communist China, Mr. Chairman.

  They also brought in two ships. I remember in the press this year 
where we had two shiploads of illegal Chinese trying to enter the 
United States. Mr. chairman, those were COSCO ships.
  Now, supporters in the administration will tell us that one of those 
ship's registrations had expired and they went and asked Communist 
China, is that still your ship? Well, that is like if I had a car and 
drove it into Mexico with a load of cocaine and it did not have 
registration, but it was my car and the Mexican Government came back 
and said, hey, Duke, is that your car? I am not going to say, sure, 
that is my car.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I think common sense should prevail.
  This is the same company, Mr. Speaker, that shipped nuclear weapons 
components to Pakistan. This is the same company, Mr. Speaker, that is 
shipping chemical and biological weapons to North Korea, to Iran, to 
Iraq, to Syria, and yes, to the Mujahedin, Hamas, and Bosnia, which 
impacts the safety of every American citizen and free world citizen in 
this world. We disagree with the Communist Chinese taking over and 
controlling a United States port.
  There is currently, Mr. Speaker, an FBI report reported to us by 
intelligence. It is current, and it states that as of today even, the 
Communist Chinese, through COSCO, are deploying both industrial spies 
and national security spies into every port, whether they are a tenant 
or whether they control it. that, to me, Mr. Speaker, is a national 
security threat and must be examined.
  I would state that Councilman Roberts from Long Beach said, it broke 
our hearts when the Navy made its decision to leave Long Beach. This 
has been an incredible struggle for the city.
  Mr. Speaker, Long Beach has lost thousands of jobs. Why? The 
President's extreme defense cuts and the additional BRAC process, base 
closing process, closed Kelly Air Force Base in California. It closed 
El Toro Base in California, it closed Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 
California, it took out the training center in San Diego and has 
devastated over 1 million jobs in the State of California, Mr. Speaker.
  We vowed to the people of Long Beach and those other cities that have 
been devastated by those cuts by the administration that we will do 
every single thing we can to help, but not at the cost of letting and 
having a national security threat, a known threat to this country, the 
Communist Chinese. Even though we are involved in trading negotiations, 
to think that they are our ally or our friend, in my opinion, is 
foolhardy.

                              {time}  2000

  What is that opinion based on? That opinion is based on my service on 
Seventh Fleet staff, responsible for all Southeast Asia exercises and 
defense of those countries, including planning the invasions of those 
countries in time of war. It also was gained at Naval Fighter Weapons 
School, and planning the invasions and defense of those countries.
  Just today in the newspaper, Mr. Speaker: ``Geneva--After an intense 
lobbying campaign marked both by threats and tantalizing promises, 
China succeeded once again yesterday in blocking U.N. criticism of its 
human rights record.''
  The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] spoke of children being in 
slavery, and used. It is also done in China, not just India and other 
countries, Mr. Speaker.
  If we take a look at the threat, when that U.N. resolution was 
blocked by Communist China through threats, they followed through with 
that threat. Here is another article in today's paper: ``U.N. 
consideration of resolution condemning its human rights record.'' ``The 
Chinese government took diplomatic retaliation against Denmark for 
sponsoring the measure,'' just for sponsoring and speaking their 
feelings.
  ``Accusing the Danish government of hurting the feelings of the 
Chinese people, China announced that it will suspend bilateral state 
visits with Copenhagen. The motion urged China to relax controls on 
freedom of expression and religion and release political prisoners, and 
improve its judicial system.'' yet China retaliated against a country 
that expressed its opinion on human rights.
  We look at the terrorism threat in Bahrain, shipped in by Cosco and 
the Communist Chinese. We look at the murders that took place in 
Germany and France and England and the World Trade Center. Many of 
these materials were shipped by Cosco ships to the terrorist countries 
that are a direct threat. We look at North Korea, threatening 
withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with the United States. Cosco 
also delivers nuclear weapons materials to North Korea.
  I would say, Mr. Speaker, that why would the people of Long Beach, 
some of them, and many do not, but we are getting calls every day from 
all over the United States and all over the world in outrage of this 
country allowing a Communist Chinese-run shipping company to take over 
the port.
  But if we take a look at the devastation that has gone on in these 
bases and with these people, they are worried about putting bread on 
the table, about putting their children through school. They are 
concerned. So are we, Mr. Speaker.
  I would say that President Clinton took a personal role in promoting 
the interests of Cosco, and at the same time he was cutting over 100 
warships out of national security for this country. That is a 23 
percent cut. The symbolism could not be made more stark. Richard 
Fisher, a senior policy analyst of the Asian Studies Center, noted the 
real, very real security concerns of the Long Beach deal in a 
Washington Times column of April 3rd.
  His main point is given: ``If it so desires, the Chinese leadership 
can direct that Cosco's assets be put at the disposal of the Peoples 
Liberation Army (the PLA), or the main espionage organ, which the FBI 
has reports that it is currently doing, the Ministry of State Security, 
the MSS * * *. Do we really want a subsidiary of the Peoples Republic 
of China to have such a large presence'' in the port?
  Mr. Speaker, Cosco has had a position at Long Beach for many years. I 
have no problems with that. They can be a tenant and I will not object, 
Mr. Speaker. But to give a Communist Chinese-operated shipping company, 
with its past violations, full access, and they control everything that 
comes into the port, they control who sees what containers that go out 
in the middle of the night, they control what goes out of this country. 
Mr. Speaker, they will ship in illegals, they will ship in illegal 
arms, they will ship in intelligence officers, as they do around the 
rest of the world. We must be vigilant, Mr. Speaker, on stopping that.

  Russia told the United States, air defense arms are not sold to Iran, 
but we find out, yes, they are. I think if we have a bright star in the 
Clinton administration, it is Madeleine Albright, because I would say, 
Mr. Speaker, that she is tough, and I think that this gentlewoman has 
the pizzazz, if you want to use that word, to stand up for American 
workers' rights.
  I would say, Mr. Speaker, that under Republican administrations and 
under Democrat administrations the weakling of our foreign policy has 
been our State Department. They will not stand up for our workers' 
rights, and I think Madeleine Albright is the person to do that.
  Let me give the Members a quick story. When the world first started 
trading with China, with sails and

[[Page H1698]]

wooden ships, and this is a true story, Mr. Speaker, one of the sailors 
from a ship threw over a bucket on a line, and it so happened that 
there was a sanpan down below it, and it impacted a lady, by mistake, 
on the head, and it killed the lady.
  The Chinese, much like in the movie ``Sand Pebble,'' stormed the ship 
and tried to take the sailor off the ship. The crew stood with arms 
protecting the sailor, and would not let him go off the ship, because 
the Chinese wanted to execute the individual right there. They waited 
three days. The Chinese emissary came back to the ship and threatened 
the fleet, to withhold all trade to those fleets.
  That day the fleet gave over that sailor, Mr. Speaker, and the 
Chinese executed him, for an accident. So many times when our countries 
are threatened with economic power of foreign countries, our State 
Department does not stand up for our rights, does not stand up for our 
workers, and we need to be more vigilant in that.
  I believe in trade. I supported NAFTA. I supported GATT. But all of 
our fears on both sides of the issue were that we would not make it be 
fair trade, and more and more we are finding that that in some cases is 
the case.
  I have an article here that says ``Marines Lost Bid for Site to China 
Cosco Firm.'' The United States Marine Corps wanted the facility at 
Cosco, and the Clinton administration allowed it to go to a Chinese 
Communist-controlled company. As Members know, as the Chinese Ocean 
Shipping Company, Cosco, while it is true that Cosco has been a tenant 
at Long Beach since 1991, the agreement would turn over 145 acres.
  It was a Cosco ship Empress Phoenix that shipped in the 2,000 AK-47 
automatic rifles into San Francisco base a year ago. Mr. Speaker, these 
are the same type of weapons that were recently used in Los Angeles in 
the bank hold-ups which placed in jeopardy the lives of our law 
enforcement agencies. Yet, the President says, I do not want any 
assault weapons in this country. These are truly fully automatic 
weapons of war and assault weapons. There was a shipment of M-2's that 
we recently stopped at the border in San Diego, fully automatic 
weapons. We need to stop that, Mr. Speaker. The Chinese regime is not a 
steady United States ally.
  On July 24, 1996, the U.S. Times reported warnings by the former 
United States Ambassador Charles Freeman quoting a Chinese official 
that China could intimidate Taiwan because United States leaders would 
care more about Los Angeles than they do Taiwan.
  What was that about? Remember when China fired missiles at Taiwan 
this last year? When the United States fleet started going through the 
straits, Communist China responded with a nuclear threat on the city of 
Los Angeles, and made the statement, ``Do you prefer Los Angeles more 
than you do Taiwan?'' And do you think that Taiwan is a possible 
conflict in the next year? Absolutely, it is.
  With American aircraft in the straits, the Chinese official had 
conveyed an anonymous message to Tony Lake, Anthony Lake, President 
Clinton's national security adviser, that American interference in 
Beijing's effort to bring Taipei to heel would result in a devastating 
attack on the city of Los Angeles. Yet, we are going to allow this same 
Communist control in Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The San Diego Union 
Tribune, 3/31/96.
  Mr. Speaker, the Panama Canal, one of the most strategic locations in 
the world for the United States, the Panama Canal, that we paid for 
with blood and sweat and tears and American citizens digging the canal, 
was recently turned over to Hutchinson, out of Hong Kong, a controlled 
Chinese Communist country, both ends of the Panama Canal.
  Now, why? The major export to China from the United States is wheat. 
Why do they not go around the horn? For the same reason sailors have 
not for 200 years, especially with cargo ships, container ships: The 
weather. They go through the Panama Canal. Yet the Chinese took over 
control of both ends of it.
  The major export port for wheat going to China is where? Guess where, 
Mr. Speaker? Long Beach Naval Shipyard. They will control price-fixing 
of our agriculture interests. They will not only have a national 
security threat, they will have an economic threat to this country.
  In the President's budget, he just gave $50 million to Communist 
China. Maybe $50 million is not very much to a lot of people, but it is 
to most. In his budget he cut impact education aid, but he gives $50 
million to the Communist Chinese for a coal-burning plant in Beijing.
  The President also gave China, after the elections, over $100 million 
to build Cosco ships in a non-recourse loan to Communist China, a loan 
to Communist China which takes away our Title XI money for our own 
shipbuilders to build American ships. Those same ships are not going to 
be sailed by U.S. sailors, they are going to be sailed by Chinese 
sailors. Those exports, under the control of price-fixing, will go out 
of the United States.
  That is what I talk about regarding our State Department, Mr. 
Speaker. If we do not speak from a position of strength, instead of a 
position of weakness, then the United States and America loses again, 
just another reason why we are in opposition to this move.
  Johnny Chung, a Chinese American businessman from California, gave 
$366,000 to the DNC, the Democratic National Committee, that was later 
returned on suspicion it illegally came from foreign sources. Guess 
what? Mr. Chung brought six Chinese officials to the White House last 
year to hear President Clinton make his weekly radio address.
  Mr. Speaker, guess who two of those guests were: The person that 
owned Cosco, how Chinese shipping was set up, he was the head of it, 
controlled by Communist China. And one of the others was the very gun 
runners that smuggled in 2,000 AK-47's into the United States, and 
after being caught they were penalized and put in prison. Do you know 
why they were putting the AK-47's into this country? To disrupt our 
inner cities in the United States, and to go to our gangs.
  The M-2's going to Mexico, during the next 90 days Mexico has 
critical elections. Do we want a left-wing Communist legislature in 
Mexico City? No. We want a pro-American, we want a pro-reform Mexican 
legislature, and not to have some Communist country disrupt the 
elections of countries next to us, whether it is Mexico or Canada.

                              {time}  2015

  On the campaign trail last year and in a White House meeting in 1995, 
President Clinton endorsed a proposal to transfer Long Beach Naval 
Shipyard to COSCO. A COSCO adviser was among the Chinese businessmen 
invited to hear the President in the Oval Office.
  Over the past year, a COSCO ship recently plowed, if you remember, 
Mr. Speaker, it was a COSCO ship that totally destroyed the pier in New 
Orleans. Not only shipping two shiploads of illegal aliens, they are 
not only shipping in AK-47's, they have not only been violated six 
times by our Coast Guard, they took out an entire pier, injuring over 
116 people, causing millions of dollars in New Orleans and declared 
unsafe. This is the company that we want controlling and having access 
within the United States? Mr. Speaker, in my humble opinion, that is 
ludicrous.
  We want to make it clear, as the Heritage Foundation, Asia analyst, 
Richard Fisher said, Increasing trade with China should not be pursued 
at the expense of U.S. national security. We believe there is enough 
evidence of these COSCO transactions presenting a threat to U.S. 
national security, particularly when the Clinton administration has 
been intimately involved throughout, that Congress should exercise its 
responsibility with prudent and robust oversight.
  We plan to do so, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I think that if the United States does not get involved 
in trade, including with China, that economically we are going to die. 
But as many Members on both sides of the aisle are afraid of, that 
should be fair trade, not trade with the United States having the 
largest, largest trade deficit in the world with China.
  We want fair trade. We want the Chinese and our State Department, 
along with the President, must demand, not should demand, must demand 
that, first, that Christians quit being abused

[[Page H1699]]

in Communist China, that weapons to our enemies, our real enemies, 
terrorists of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and North Korea cease now, that they 
quit supplying areas like Bosnia that can be used against our troops, 
that they quit shipping in weapons to nations close to the United 
States like Mexico, that the human rights violations be moved on, not 
thwarted in the United Nations with threats to other countries. And 
that is another reason, Mr. Speaker, that the United Nations should be 
and must be changed.
  The Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, was correct in his recent 
trip to Asia and China. He said that perhaps one of the first signs 
that China can make is how the handling of the turnover of Hong Kong to 
the Communist Chinese looks. The next step should be its policy toward 
Taiwan as a free nation. And yes, I think that our State Department and 
our President need to focus on the trade deficit, not only with China 
but other countries as well.
  As the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] said, its utilization of 
children, we are not talking teenagers, Mr. Speaker, we are talking 
about 5- and 6- and 7-year-olds working 14 hours a day just to survive 
for a handful of rice. And then guess what? Those products come to this 
country, but our businesses out of business because we cannot meet that 
labor cost.
  We need to take a look at Long Beach and the biodiversity that the 
interest groups are currently looking at, including the Audubon 
Society, Mr. Speaker.
  I would be happy to sum up by saying that I will not object to Long 
Beach having COSCO or other nations as a tenant, but, Mr. Speaker, let 
us not give them control and complete access of a former national 
security base, not with the record of COSCO, not with the current 
threat from the Chinese Communists who just increased their defense by 
30 percent and bought 250 SU-27's, which are better than our F-14 and 
F-15 Strike Eagles, our aircraft, and not with the current China 
shipping arms to our enemies.
  Let us be tough. Let us talk softly and carry a big stick, Mr. 
Speaker. But when the time comes, I would ask the President, the State 
Department, and this body to be able to speak with a strong voice and 
be willing to use that stick. And God bless America.

                          ____________________