[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 134 (Tuesday, September 22, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9681-S9682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 280--CELEBRATING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RULE OF 
         LAW PROGRAM OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITY BEASLEY SCHOOL OF LAW

  Mr. SPECTER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 280

       Whereas in 1997, President William J. Clinton and President 
     Jiang Zemin agreed at the Sino-American Summit to 
     collaborative efforts to enhance legal exchanges between the 
     United States and China;
       Whereas in 1999, Temple University established a Master of 
     Laws degree program in Beijing, the first foreign law degree 
     granting program approved by the Chinese Ministry of 
     Education, as a collaborative effort, first with China 
     University of Political Science and Law, and subsequently 
     with Tsinghua University School of Law;
       Whereas in 1999, Temple University signed a cooperative 
     agreement with the State Administration of Foreign Expert 
     Affairs of China to deliver rule of law educational programs 
     to Chinese government officials;
       Whereas in 2000, Temple University signed a cooperative 
     agreement with the Supreme People's Court of China to conduct 
     judicial training;
       Whereas in 2001, Temple University signed a cooperative 
     agreement with the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China to 
     conduct prosecutor training;
       Where in 2002, Temple University began a series of 
     scholarly roundtables directed at Chinese law and legal 
     education, with topics including World Trade Organization, 
     Internet, environmental, health, and private international 
     law as well as nongovernmental organization advocacy and 
     experiential legal education;
       Whereas Justice Antonin G. Scalia visited Beijing and the 
     Temple University rule of law program as part of a broad 
     legal exchange between the United States and China;
       Whereas in 2003, former Temple University School of Law 
     dean Robert Reinstein received the National Friendship Award 
     from Zhu Rongji, former Prime Minister of China in the Great 
     Hall of the People;
       Whereas in 2009, Temple University, Tsinghua University, 
     and the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs of 
     China will host events in Beijing to commemorate the 10-year 
     anniversary of the rule of law program;
       Whereas as of 2009, Temple has educated a total of 903 
     legal professionals in the rule of law program in China, 78 
     percent of whom work in the public sector; and
       Whereas 391 Chinese legal professionals, including judges, 
     National People's Congress and State Council legislative 
     officers, prosecutors, government officials, law professors, 
     and commercial lawyers have graduated from, or are currently 
     enrolled in, Temple's Beijing Master of Laws program: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends and congratulates Temple University Beasley 
     School of Law, its faculty, its alumni, its 10th graduating 
     class, and all involved in the 10th anniversary of the China 
     rule of law program; and
       (2) recognizes that--
       (A) the Temple University Beasley School of Law rule of law 
     program has succeeded in furthering the goal of promoting 
     collaborative legal exchanges between the United States and 
     China; and
       (B) Temple University and its partners in China represent 
     the spirit of cooperation and friendship between these 2 
     great nations, and will surely continue to strengthen those 
     bonds into the future.

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I seek recognition to note the 10th 
anniversary of Temple University's China Rule of Law Program. The 
Beasley School of Law housed at Temple University stands as an 
outstanding leader in promoting cross-cultural partnership between 
legal professionals in the United States and China. This year, the 
Beasley School celebrates ten years of cooperation with Tsinghua 
University in Beijing. Temple University's China Rule-of-Law Program 
has awarded nearly 400 Master of Laws degrees to Chinese legal 
professionals to date. The first foreign law degree program to be 
approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education as well as the American 
Bar Association, Temple's Rule of Law Program represents a landmark 
program and step toward increased global understanding of legal 
procedure by educating Chinese legal professionals in the same manners 
and by the same standards as those practiced at American law schools. I 
respectfully submit this resolution to recognize Temple University's 
outstanding leadership in promoting cross-cultural exchange in the 
field of international law.
  The partnership between Temple University and China's Tsinghua 
University predates the establishment in 1999 of the Master of Laws 
Degree program. Shortly after the official reestablishment of 
diplomatic relations between the United States and China in January of 
1979, Temple University awarded Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping with an 
honorary law degree. Educational and cultural exchange became the 
centerpieces of renewed cooperation between the two powers over the 
course of the last three decades. Shortly after President Clinton and 
President Zemin's mutual call for collaboration in legal exchange in 
1997, Temple formally created the China Rule-of-Law Program that merits 
commendation today.
  Cooperating to meet the demands of a global environment in which 
legal professionals are increasingly required to be trained in 
international legal standards, American faculty from Temple, Chinese 
faculty at Tsinghua University, and highly accomplished international 
practitioners teach courses entirely in English at Tsinghua's 
facilities in Beijing. The 30 credit curriculum concentrates on 
American and international law and in particular focuses on the 
subfields of criminal and business law. The program requires the same 
standards of scholarship of its Chinese students that ABA accredited 
American law institutions require at home and requires a full-time 
student to devote 15 months to complete the program. Students earning 
their degrees through Temple's Beasley-Tsinghua program participate in 
the same dialogue-based methods as students in American classrooms; 
they are also given access to the Lexis and Westlaw legal research 
tools during their studies. This means that Chinese students receiving 
the Master of Laws degree from Temple's Beasley Law School at Tsinguah 
become familiar with the same processes for solving legal puzzles and 
conducting legal research as those that mark the standard within 
international circles. Therefore, as a capacity building tool for 
Chinese professionals within the international legal environment, 
Temple's China Rule-of-Law program is indispensible.
  As a means of promoting bilateral understanding over legal norms and 
standards, this type of program is even more vital. Legal norms and 
standards, we must remember, are formed and interpreted within social, 
cultural, and historical contexts. The continued growth of a strong 
partnership between our two nations is contingent upon a full 
understanding of this contextual environment because it serves as the 
setting in which legal standards are shaped and in which they are 
applied. In today's international climate, this cooperation is more 
important than ever before, and Temple should be regarded as an 
exemplar for its leadership in cultivating such cooperation.
  The study abroad component of this program, which brings these 
Chinese

[[Page S9682]]

students to Temple's Philadelphia campus during the summer after the 
first full year of study, is an important means of achieving this 
contextual understanding. However, this is just one way in which this 
landmark program facilitates the integration of Chinese legal 
professionals into the international legal realm outside of the 
classroom. An extensive alumni network includes, as previously noted, 
nearly 400 degree holders, many of whom are involved with the Temple 
Law Alumni Association of China, which boasts around 550 members. The 
Rule of Law program has educated over 900 legal professionals through 
less formal means, including roundtables that have explored topics 
ranging from the subfields of Internet and Environmental Law to NGO 
Advocacy and the WTO. The partnership is currently working with the 
State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs of China to host a 
series of events targeted to broadening this exchange in Beijing in the 
coming months as a celebration of ten successful years, marking an 
emphasis on continued growth and success.
  As our two nations look for additional means of improving and 
promoting bilateral exchange, Temple University's innovative 
programming efforts must be celebrated and should be seen as a paradigm 
for future partnerships. Its increasing alumni network--both of degree 
holders and of other professionals that have benefitted from the Rule 
of Law's various programs--must be looked upon as a growing web of 
future leaders that understand the international legal context upon 
which international stability, economic development, and global 
cooperation rely. I urge the Senate to recognize Temple University's 
contribution to American and Chinese bilateral relations and in setting 
a high standard for improved and constructive international dialogue.

                          ____________________