[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 93 (Friday, June 27, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DISAPPROVAL OF MOST-FAVORED-NATION TREATMENT FOR CHINA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 24, 1997

  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, this vote is about many things. Human 
rights. Global security. Free--and fair--trade. But most importantly, 
it's about American credibility.
  Yesterday, a bill was on the calendar to prohibit financial 
transactions with terrorist nations like Iran, Libya, and Syria. It 
would have passed without debate.
  How ironic. China has provided Iran with advanced missile and 
chemical weapons technology. Sent missile-related components to Syria. 
And sold Libya materials to produce nuclear weapons.
  I suggest we have a credibility problem.
  And what of human rights? Last year Congress enacted the Helms-Burton 
Act to tighten the screws on the Castro government. Why? Because we 
decry the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Castro regime. Some of 
our staunchest allies threatened economic reprisals if this law were 
implemented. But that didn't stop us.
  Yet when it comes to China, we ignore our own State Department report 
that the human rights situation actually got worse in 1996.
  I suggest we have a credibility problem.
  Then, of course, there's trade. We rant and rave about the unfair 
trade practices of the Japanese. Yet, to quote from Sunday's Los 
Angeles Times, ``China has developed a labyrinth of tariff and non-
tariff barriers against United States goods and services that would 
make the Japanese blush.''
  That's why the Wall Street Journal reported this week that our trade 
deficit with China will soon surpass our deficit with Japan. Our trade 
relationship with China means a net loss of thousands of American jobs, 
and a projected deficit of fifty billion dollars this year.
  And we complain about the Japanese.
  I suggest we have a credibility problem.
  In fact, I submit that this vote is fundamentally about American 
credibility. Whether our policies will be consistent with our 
principles: On human rights. Global security. Free and fair trade.
  If, in fact, these are our principles, then we cannot demand 
compliance from the rest of the world and set a different standard for 
China. Vote yes on the resolution.

                          ____________________