[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         AGAINST MFN FOR CHINA

  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous 
material.)
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, the question of MFN will be coming up. I urge 
Members to take a look at a recent poll done by the Weekly Standard 
which I will put in the Record. This is what Public Opinion Strategies 
said:
  By an overwhelming margin of 61 to 29 percent, the American people 
oppose MFN for China. The other 10 percent did not know.
  Sixty-one to twenty-nine percent.
  The pollsters asked the respondents: ``Do you support or oppose 
continuing most-favored-nation status with China?'' Sixty-one percent 
to twenty-nine percent. That is all across the country, in every 
region, in all the cities, in the suburbs, on the farms, all political 
spectrum, men and women. The fact is even a greater percentage of 
women, 67 to 22 percent, oppose MFN.
  Let us listen to the American people. The Chinese are persecuting 
Christians, they have Christians in jail, Catholic priests, Catholic 
bishops, evangelical pastors, persecuting Buddhists and Moslems, and 
yet this Congress and this administration is thinking of giving MFN for 
China.
  I strongly urge Members to read the poll. The American people are 
aware. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party ought to be. 
Oppose MFN for China.
  Mr. Speaker, I include the following editorial for the Record:

               [From the Weekly Standard, April 28, 1997]

                The Poll Numbers on China: 61-29 Against

       The Washington debate over the Clinton administration's 
     policy of appeasement--pardon us, ``engagement''--toward 
     China is heating up. It will get even warmer as July 1 nears, 
     when Hong Kong reverts to Chinese sovereignty after 155 years 
     as a British crown colony. And there'll be a full boil when 
     Congress takes up the question of China's ``most favored 
     nation'' status in American trade law. The fearsome let's-
     trade-with-Beijing lobby will twist the arms of congressmen 
     to shut up about human rights and pass MFN. Wavering 
     legislators will want to know: Where's the public on this 
     nettlesome issue? Here's the answer.
       At the Weekly Standard's request, the polling firm Public 
     Opinion Strategies earlier this month reminded 800 Americans 
     that the MFN designation ``gives the Chinese full trading 
     privileges with the United States.'' Then our pollsters posed 
     a question that, if anything, bends over backwards in favor 
     of engagement.
       Some people support MFN ``because they believe it will 
     promote democracy and free markets in China and help the U.S. 
     economy.'' Others want to suspend MFN ``because China limits 
     human rights, sells arms to Iran and pursues an aggressive 
     foreign policy.'' So do our poll respondents ``support or 
     oppose continuing most favored nation status with China?''
       The result: The American people oppose MFN, overwhelmingly, 
     by 61 to 29 percent (the other 10 percent don't or gave no 
     answer). They oppose it in every region of the country. They 
     oppose it in the cities. They oppose it in the suburbs. They 
     oppose it on the farm. White people oppose it. Black people 
     oppose it. Republicans oppose it. Democrats oppose it. Rich 
     people oppose it. Poor people oppose it. High-school dropouts 
     oppose it. Ph.D.s oppose it. Married people oppose it. Single 
     people oppose it. Clinton voters oppose it. Dole voters 
     oppose it. Perot voters oppose it.
       In other words, everyone opposes MFN. And interestingly 
     enough, no one opposes MFN more than women do; by a whopping 
     45-point margin, 67 to 22 percent. So on this issue, 
     President Clinton has a gender gap. He deserves it.

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