[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 62 (Thursday, May 18, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H3399-H3400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN SUPPORT OF PNTR FOR CHINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, American business men and women have 
eyed China for years, knowing that the sky is the limit when it comes 
to selling American-made goods and services to the world's largest 
market. But Americans have found it difficult to trade with China since 
complete access to this vast market has been vastly restricted.
  In today's global marketplace, we can no longer afford any 
restrictions on trade with the world's largest population. We must 
engage China to ensure that American companies and American workers 
have the tools to compete with other nations now already in these 
markets. Remember, when America competes, we win.
  Over the past year, Mr. Speaker, I have worked with the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Dreier), chairman of the Committee on Rules, and a 
number of colleagues in support of extending permanent normal trading 
relations with China. Back home in New Jersey, I have met with hundreds 
of people from the business community to encourage them to organize and 
help spread the word about the benefits of increased trade with China 
that will bring benefits to the Garden State, and I would like to 
discuss for a few minutes a few of these items.
  First, extending permanent normal trade relations with China is a win 
for fairness. This agreement forces China to adhere to our rules-based 
trading system. Without an agreement, there are no rules and we have no 
say whatsoever in how China conducts its business with the rest of the 
world.
  Secondly, it is a win for U.S. workers and businesses, Mr. Speaker. 
China is an incredibly important emerging market with more than a 
billion consumers.
  Thirdly, trade with China is a win for American values inside China. 
Through free and fair trade, America will not only export many products 
and services, but we will deliver a good old-fashioned dose of our 
democratic values and free market ideas.
  Fourthly, international trade whether it be with China or any other 
Nation means jobs for my State of New Jersey, and that is the bottom 
line, continued prosperity for all of us. Out of New Jersey's 4.1 
million member workforce, almost 600,000 people statewide from main 
street to Fortune 500 companies are employed because of exports, 
imports and foreign direct investment. Currently, China ranked as New 
Jersey's ninth largest export destination in 1998, an increase from 
13th in 1993. Our Garden State has exported $668 million in merchandise 
to China in 1998, more than double what was exported 5 years earlier.
  With a formal trade agreement in practice, imagine the potential as 
access to China's vast markets is improved. Enormous opportunities 
exist for our State's telecommunications,

[[Page H3400]]

our environmental technology, our health care industry, our agriculture 
and food processing industries.
  Fifth and finally, in the interest of world peace, it is absolutely a 
mistake to isolate China, a nation with the world's largest standing 
army, an estimated 2.6 million member force.
  America's democratic allies in Asia support China's entry into the 
World Trade Organization because they know that a constructive 
relationship with China and a stable Asia offers the best chance for 
reducing regional tensions along the Taiwan Strait and for avoiding a 
new arms race elsewhere in Asia and throughout the world.
  As I work to pass PNTR for China, I am fully aware of the 
controversies surrounding this vote. Indeed, humanitarian and 
environmental issues remain important to me in our dealings with China, 
but I refuse to believe that if we walk away from China our national 
interest would be better served. In fact, I am positive to do so would 
greatly deter from our ability and our credibility to push reform in 
China and around the globe.
  Mr. Speaker, as General Colin Powell has said, and I quote, from 
every standpoint, from a strategic standpoint, from the standpoint of 
our national interest, from the standpoint of our trading interest and 
our economic interest, it serves all of our purposes to grant China 
this status.

                          ____________________