[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 146 (Monday, October 3, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6033-S6034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  China's Currency Exchange Practices

  The issue after this vote is whether the Senate should proceed to 
debate legislation I have authored with Senator Schumer and others 
dealing with the currency exchange practices of the Communist 
dictatorship of China. I have been involved in this for almost 7 years. 
We did a sense-of-the-Senate resolution back in 2004, I believe it was, 
urging the Chinese to change their currency policy.
  But what does this mean to the average American? The exchange rate 
today is 6.38 yuan to the dollar. When you look at the dollar to the 
euro, I don't know what it is trading today, but it goes up and down 
every day. China's economy is growing at 9 and 10 percent. They are the 
second largest economy in the world. They are moving like gangbusters. 
Does it really matter for them to suppress the value of the currency? 
Yes, it does.
  Any objective observer, looking at the history of the way the Chinese 
Government deals with its monetary policy, concludes they keep the yuan 
below its true value to create a discount on products made in China. 
Look at it this way. If you are competing with China in the world 
marketplace, not only do you have cheap labor to compete against, but 
you have the Government of China directly supporting their industries 
in a way we don't here, and then add to that intellectual property 
theft. When you do

[[Page S6034]]

business in China, the next thing you know, a Chinese company across 
the street is producing the very product you went to China to produce.
  So the Chinese Government needs to follow the rule of law and live 
with the norms of international business practices. And when it comes 
to currency manipulation, it is impossible to believe that the dollar-
to-yuan ratio exists without the government manipulating the value of 
the yuan. People estimate that it is 25 to 40 percent below its true 
value. What does that mean? It means if you are competing with China, 
selling the same product made in China, there is a discount on the 
Chinese product based on the value of their money.
  The trade deficit with China has exploded. Last year, it was $273 
billion. We were at $160.4 billion in July of this year. Cheap exports 
coming out of China are the source of cash for the Chinese Government 
and Chinese industry.
  We can't convert the currency in China. In the United States, we can 
take your money and convert it to any currency we would like. But if a 
Chinese manufacturer sells a product in the United States and gets paid 
in dollars, they have to convert it to the yuan. They have very 
restrictive monetary policies, and the ban of trading on the yuan is 
0.5 percent day. The dollar can fluctuate based on all kinds of 
economic forces--our debt, our trade deficit, and what is going on here 
at home. But the Chinese Government restricts the fluctuation of the 
currency in a way that costs us jobs.
  It is estimated that over 2 million jobs have been lost over the last 
decade because of currency manipulation alone. It is one way to get an 
unfair advantage in the marketplace. Over 41,000 jobs have been lost in 
South Carolina alone because companies can't compete with China.
  So this legislation would allow the Treasury Department to create new 
criteria to monitor the currency practices of the Chinese Government. 
If it is found to be misaligned or manipulated, the Treasury Department 
can bring countervailing duty proposals, counterveiling duty action 
against China. We have done this before when the Chinese dumped steel 
into our market.
  If a country is violating the international trading standards or 
business norms, under the WTO we have the ability to fight back. This 
legislation would elevate currency manipulation. It is one thing to 
dump a product such as steel or tires into the American economy, 
creating an unfair advantage for the Chinese manufacturing community; 
we have tools to deal with that. But we haven't embraced pushing back 
against currency.
  China should be a great place to do business, but it is not. It 
should be more balanced than it is. I want to do business with China. I 
just don't want trade deficits of $273 billion that are artificially 
created. If they do something better than us, they should win in the 
marketplace. That is just the way business works. But if the government 
intervenes and creates an advantage for a Chinese company, that is not 
winning in the marketplace. This would not matter if it were a small 
country such as the Dominican Republic or some small country where they 
have to keep the currency in check because they don't want wild swings 
of their currency. But major economic powers--China, the United States, 
European countries--can't play that game.
  So I hope my colleagues will vote to allow this debate to go forward 
because this is about American jobs at the end of the day.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, all pending nominations other than the 
nomination of Henry Floyd are confirmed.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Henry F. Floyd, of South Carolina,to be United States Circuit Judge 
for the Fourth Circuit?
  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the 
Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), and the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. 
Lieberman) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Missouri (Mr. Blunt).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 154 Ex.]

                                YEAS--96

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Blunt
     Brown (OH)
     Inouye
     Lieberman
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is made and laid upon the table. The President will be 
immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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