[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 95 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6804-S6805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2001

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about hate 
crimes legislation I introduced with Senator Kennedy in March of last 
year. The Local Law Enforcement Act of 2001 would add new categories to 
current hate crimes legislation sending a signal that violence of any 
kind is unacceptable in our society.
  I would like to describe a terrible crime that occurred June 10, 
2000, in Albuquerque, NM. A man in a minivan yelling obscenities ran 
down participants in a gay pride parade. One victim was hit twice in 
the knees and thrown off the hood. The perpetrator tried to swerve into 
the crowd three times before police finally pulled him out of the 
vehicle and arrested him.
  I believe that government's first duty is to defend its citizens, to 
defend them against the harms that come out of hate. The Local Law 
Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2001 is now a symbol that can become 
substance. I believe that by passing this legislation and changing 
current law, we can change hearts and minds as well.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise to note the release on July 15, 
2002 of the first annual report of the U.S.-China Security Review 
Commission.
  Shortly after the enactment in the year 2000 of legislation giving 
China Permanent Normal Trade Relations, PNTR, the Congress, thanks to 
the leadership of Senator Robert C. Byrd, passed legislation creating 
the U.S.-China Security Review Commission. According to the law that 
established the Commission, its purpose is to ``monitor, investigate 
and report to the Congress on the national security implications of the 
bilateral trade and economic relationship between the

[[Page S6805]]

United Stats and the People's Republic of China''. The legislation 
which created the Commission charges it to submit an annual report to 
the Congress with recommendations for action, if any.
  The bi-partisan Commission is composed of twelve commissioners, three 
of whom were appointed by each of the Congressional leaders in both the 
House and Senate. To prepare itself to issue its first Report the 
Commission held nine open hearings and took testimony from 115 
witnesses on 35 separate panels. It also contracted for new research on 
China from a variety of sources including extensive translation and 
analysis of articles on economic, political, and trade issues that are 
appearing in influential Chinese publications. Members of the 
Commission also traveled to China, Taiwan, Japan, and the headquarters 
of the World Trade Organization, WTO, in Geneva. During its 
deliberations the Commission developed a broad bi-partisan agreement on 
the issues it was charged by Congress to study, and it adopted its 
first report by a vote of 11-1.
  Among its key findings are that the United States, by acting as 
China's largest export market and a key investor in the Chinese 
economy, has been a major contributor to China's rise as an economic 
power. It further notes that our trade relationship with China is not 
only our largest trade deficit in absolute terms, but is the most 
unbalanced trading relationship maintained by the United States.
  The Report further notes that while U.S. imports from China 
constitute over 40 percent of China's exports, U.S. exports to China 
represent only two percent of our total exports. It finds that the U.S. 
trade deficit with China is not only in low-skilled labor intensive 
items, but also in a majority of items found on the Commerce 
Department's list of advanced technology products. It further finds 
that there is plausible evidence that our burgeoning trade deficit with 
China will worsen regardless of China's entry into the WTO.
  The Report also discusses the fast increasing trade and investment 
linkages between China and Taiwan which the Commission notes ``could 
ameliorate tensions between the two'', but which are also increasing 
``U.S. dependence on the items made in China for our computer 
electronics and other high technology products''.
  The Report makes a number of recommendations to better the chances 
for building a better long-term mutually beneficial economic and 
political relationship with China. Among these are: 1. That we put in 
place new programs to build a much wider expertise about China both in 
our society and among policymakers, and 2. that we take new measures to 
keep our industrial, scientific, and technological base from eroding as 
a result of our economic relations with a China whose government has 
adopted policies to expand its own base even at our expense.
  I think this first Report of the Commission makes a very valuable 
contribution to our policy deliberations on China. It will be very 
helpful to the Congress as we examine how to respond to the challenges 
to our country posed by China's strengthening economic, military, and 
political profiles. We can best craft sensible policies if we better 
understand the perceptions that Chinese leaders have of us and what 
their long-term goals are. Judging the Commission's Report will help us 
do both.
  I salute Senator Byrd for his wisdom in calling for the creation of 
the Commission and thank all of its Commissioners for the important 
contributions that their first Report makes to our knowledge of the 
U.S.-China economic and political relationship. I commend the Report to 
my fellow Senators.

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