[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 62 (Thursday, May 18, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H3410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TOLERANCE OF TORTURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if a bill were to come before this 
Congress asking for the legalization of rape, torture, murder and 
religious persecution, it would be voted down without question. If our 
President were to lower the working age to 15 years old and call for 14 
hour workdays, 6 days a week, the people of the United States would be 
outraged.
  Why then do so many in this Congress seek to allow trade practices 
with a country that allows and encourages such atrocities? In the 
People's Republic of China, these types of events occur every day. This 
behavior is not punished by the Chinese Communist Party, but it is 
condoned and encouraged by this Chinese government.
  Although the government of the United States obviously has no 
authority to stop directly this abusive behavior, we do have the 
ability to check on the human rights practices of the Chinese through 
our current trade agreement.
  The U.S. State Department reports on human rights violations in 
China, ``Beijing's poor human rights record deteriorated markedly 
throughout the year, as the government intensified efforts to suppress 
dissent.'' Even with our investigations into the human rights issue, 
China has not changed. Even if we do not consider the $70 billion trade 
deficit or the threat of jobs going overseas to China, we should deny 
China permanent normal trade relations based on these human rights 
violations done and allowed by the Chinese government.
  Many of the victims of government oppression in China are young 
children. Two of the main concerns of many U.S. citizens regarding 
trade with China are child labor and working conditions for all 
Chinese, especially young women. Chinese are used as cheap labor, often 
forced to work in awful conditions for abnormally long hours. They are 
often punished cruelly. Many are tortured brutally, some are raped by 
their employers.
  The Chinese government acknowledges the use of child labor, and while 
the exact number of child workers is unknown, the number of minors out 
of school and in the workforce exceeds by far 10 million young people. 
Companies looking for cheap labor attract apprehensive students with 
promises of money and success. These children are forced to work in 
cramped spaces for long hours. Fourteen-year-olds often faint from 
exhaustion and heat, often working 6 days a week, 16 hours a day.

  Not only do the Chinese practice and allow child labor, slave labor 
is also common in labor camps throughout China. Chinese citizens are 
kidnapped, they are forced to work, often without wages or food. These 
workers, often very young, often 40 of them or more, are forced to stay 
in makeshift houses of less than 20 square meters, with leaking roofs 
and rat infestation.
  If the U.S. allows China to obtain PNTR, then we are accepting the 
outrageous treatment of laborers in China. Can we in good conscience 
allow this to happen in this Congress?
  One of the founding principles of the United States is freedom from 
religious persecution. Under communist rule in China, all religious 
activity must be approved and registered by the government. Religious 
sects not approved by the government include the Falun Gong and Tibetan 
Buddhism. The Chinese government has fought hard to restrict both these 
sects. According to the Students for a Free Tibet Organization, 6,000 
Tibetan monasteries and shrines have been destroyed, 600 Tibetan 
Buddhists are presently in jail for practicing their religion. The 
Chinese government banned the Falun Gong in July and put tens of 
thousands of its members in psychiatric hospitals and in prisons for 
long, long terms. Prisoners are endlessly harassed, beaten and 
tortured. Often the Chinese government uses hospital and prisons to 
silence the spiritual leaders of their country.
  Not only are the spiritual leaders detained and imprisoned, but so 
are political party leaders. China continues to harass Taiwan with 
threats of bombing, simply because they held free elections and are now 
a Democratic Nation.
  The Chinese government attempts to squelch freedom and democracy, the 
two basic ideals on which our country was founded. Why are we willing 
to throw away these ideals because of corporate greed by U.S. CEOs? If 
the U.S. allows China to have permanent normal trade relations, we are 
condoning China's outrageous denial of human rights. We would not 
ignore this type of criminal behavior in our own country; we should not 
ignore these atrocities in China.
  We cannot turn our backs on the Chinese people simply because they do 
not inhabit our shores. We should expect no less from the countries 
with whom we trade than we do from ourselves. If we want to have a 
global economy, we should have a global morality. Can we allow the 
trafficking of women and children in the name of western corporate 
profit? Can we condone discrimination and abuse against women and 
minorities for profit?
  Mr. Speaker, free trade with China will prove to be very costly for 
our values, for democracy and for our Nation.




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