[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 77 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1039]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               CHINA PNTR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 19, 2000

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, we have recently voted to establish 
permanent normal trade relations with China, which I believe will 
provide economic opportunities for us and further advance reforms that 
will promote democratization and hopefully improve human rights in that 
region.
  China recently negotiated to become a member of the World Trade 
Organization, a union of 135 nations who will require China to follow 
established trade rules. China has agreed to lower tariffs and duties 
on many products imported from foreign countries including the United 
States. These lowered tariffs will increase American exports, expand 
opportunities for our businesses, and create new jobs. If we had not 
granted permanent normal trade relations with China, we would have lost 
these economic benefits to other countries that would trade with China.
  Increased trade with China will create new jobs and stimulate the 
economy in my district. Lowered tariffs will apply to California's 
Central Valley agricultural products, such as almonds, oranges, grapes, 
and cotton. In a few years, China will reduce its tariff on almonds 
from 30 to 10 percent, on oranges from 40 to 12 percent, and on grapes 
from 40 to 13 percent. China will also import millions of additional 
tons of cotton at a low duty. These lowered tariffs and duties will 
lead to lower prices for Chinese citizens who will demand more 
products, necessitating increased production in the Valley. New 
agricultural jobs will support this increased production.
  We are already reaping abundant benefits from trade with other 
countries. Since July of 1999, Kern County alone has shipped over 
220,000 tons of cotton to Mexico. Production, transportation, and 
marketing of cotton for Mexico have generated numerous jobs in the 
Central Valley. Because China's population is significantly greater 
than that in the other countries with whom we trade, the amount of 
products we will export there will also be significantly greater.
  Not only will increased trade benefit our economy, but it will also 
help further the expansion of freedoms in China. In any nation, this 
process take times. Our own nation's history attests to this fact. The 
rights guaranteed in our Constitution have not always been granted to 
everyone. For example, slavery, with all of its abuses, we practiced 
for 78 years after the ratification of the Constitution. Eighty-three 
years after the Constitution, the Fifteenth Amendment theoretically 
granted suffrage to all people, regardless of ``race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude,'' but these rights continued to be 
denied to people of color. Our country progressed over time to expand 
and guarantee equal protection of rights under the law.
  Just as the expansion of freedoms has progressed over time throughout 
the history of the United States, so it will take time for China to 
extend more freedoms to its citizens. China is just starting the 
process we have been pursuing for over two centuries, and they are in a 
different situation than was the United States at its foundation. 
Chinese leaders do not regard the individual as, in the words of our 
Declaration of Independence, ``endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable Rights.'' Their government does not derive its ``just Power 
from the Consent of the Governed.'' The Chinese have still to develop a 
real understanding of the value of the individual.
  Communist Party control over the financial future of Chinese citizens 
is weakening. Millions of people are migrating away from state-owned 
enterprises to work in private businesses. At these businesses, they 
experience improved working conditions and higher wages. They are less 
dependent on the government, can make their own choices, and thereby 
have more personal control over their lives. As this movement into the 
private sector continues, more people will come to expect and demand 
the reforms necessary to guarantee individual rights.
  Exposure to international trade rules will enable the Chinese to 
appreciate establishing rule of law within their country. Increased 
trade with all nations will acquaint Chinese citizens with innovation 
and new technology from sources outside their government. These ideas 
will increase their awareness of the rights and freedoms to which they 
are entitled. Chinese citizens may in time pressure their leaders for 
reforms that will guarantee these rights and freedoms. Our trade 
relations will allow us to support the Chinese people if they choose to 
push for these reforms.
  For all of these reasons, I am pleased that the House has voted for 
permanent normal trade relations with China. The bill is now in the 
Senate, where I am hopeful it will pass so that the United States and 
China together can secure the benefits of a more open trade 
relationship.

                          ____________________