[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE PRESIDENT MUST CALL FOR AN END TO CHINA'S NOTORIOUS LABOR CAMPS

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, in 1997 then-President Ronald Reagan 
signaled an end to the Cold War when he called upon Soviet leader 
Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. The time has come for 
President Clinton to make a similar call to the Communist Chinese.
  Next week President Clinton will have a landmark opportunity to call 
for human rights reforms in Communist China. He will have a historic 
opportunity, and millions of Americans hope and pray that he will not 
squander it.
  The President will be greeted in Tiananmen Square. This is the same 
site where 9 years ago the world watched as the Chinese Government 
brutally crushed the prodemocracy demonstration and killed or jailed 
thousands of Chinese citizens.
  As the world's only true leader, America cannot abdicate its 
responsibility to call for an end to China's human rights abuses. At 
every turn, President Clinton must call on the Chinese Government to 
respect the rights of Chinese citizens to assemble and to freely 
express themselves. The President must speak for the conscience of the 
civilized world and call for an end to China's notorious labor camps.
  The time has come for the U.S. to exercise its leadership and moral 
authority, and I sincerely hope that President Clinton doesn't waste 
it.

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