[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S6790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 SENATE RESOLUTION 601--RECOGNIZING 35 YEARS OF COOPERATION IN SCIENCE 
 AND TECHNOLOGY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF 
                                 CHINA

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Cardin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 601

       Whereas mutually beneficial cooperation between the 
     Governments of the People's Republic of China and the United 
     States in promoting science and technology has made 
     tremendous strides since the signing of the Agreement Between 
     the Government of the United States and the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China on Cooperation in Science and 
     Technology, done at Washington January 31, 1979, which was 
     the first inter-governmental agreement since the United 
     States and the People's Republic of China established 
     diplomatic relations in 1979;
       Whereas the Governments of the People's Republic of China 
     and the United States have become active partners in 
     fostering research and innovation since the signing of the 
     Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation 
     in Science and Technology in 1979;
       Whereas cooperation in science and technology since 1979 
     has brought numerous benefits to both countries, including--
       (1) shared information on issues such as climate 
     variability, seismic activity, and agricultural science;
       (2) joint publication of scientific and technological 
     research; and
       (3) exchange of technical assistance and best practices in 
     areas such as food and pharmaceutical safety and 
     environmental cleanup;
       Whereas the continued promotion of science and technology 
     in both countries holds the potential to advance shared 
     interests, as well as the interests of United States partners 
     and allies in the region and globally, including in 
     mitigating the effects of climate change, securing the 
     availability of water, food and energy, and improving public 
     health, disease prevention, and pandemic response;
       Whereas the government-to-government relationship conducted 
     under the Agreement Between the Government of the United 
     States and the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     on Cooperation in Science and Technology now consists of some 
     30 subordinate agency-to-agency protocols, including--
       (1) cooperation between the Department of Energy and the 
     Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to form the Clean 
     Energy Research Center to explore advances in clean vehicles, 
     advanced coal technology, and building energy efficiency;
       (2) cooperation between the Department of Agriculture's 
     Agricultural Research Service and the Chinese Ministry of 
     Science and Technology on agricultural biotechnology, natural 
     resource management, food safety, and similar issues;
       (3) cooperation between the National Institutes of Health 
     and the counterparts in China, including the Natural Science 
     Foundation of China and Chinese Ministry of Science and 
     Technology to conduct basic and clinical biomedical research;
       (4) cooperation between the Environmental Protection Agency 
     and the counterparts in China, including the Chinese Ministry 
     of Science and Technology and the Chinese Ministry of 
     Environmental Protection to support joint environmental 
     research, and to exchange best practices on environmental 
     legislation and enforcement;
       (5) exchange of personnel between the Chinese Centers for 
     Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Disease 
     Control and Prevention to develop information exchange and 
     response mechanisms for influenza pandemics;
       (6) collaboration between the Food and Drug Administration 
     and food and medical regulators in China to enhance the 
     safety of imported food and medical products from China 
     through better information sharing and access to production 
     facilities; and
       (7) collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control 
     and Prevention and Peking University Health Center (former 
     Beijing Medical University) to study child health issues and 
     health hazards caused by environmental factors;
       Whereas many educational institutions in the United States 
     and China have established partnerships to further science 
     and technology research, including--
       (1) Northwestern University, based in Evanston, Illinois, 
     which has developed strategic partnerships in China, such as 
     the Wanxiang Fellows Program, which allows Northwestern 
     students to study emerging energy challenges and renewable 
     energy innovations in the United States and China; and
       (2) University of California, Davis, based in Davis, 
     California, which has partnered with China's Northwest 
     Agricultural and Forestry University in Shaanxi province to 
     establish the Sino-U.S. Joint Research Center for Food Safety 
     to promote international collaborative research for food 
     safety in China and the United States;
       Whereas the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has 
     signed 97 inter-institutional cooperative partnership 
     agreements with various institutions that are headquartered 
     in China in the fields of engineering, food sciences, and 
     transportation, including a high-speed rail research 
     partnership between the university's Railway Transportation 
     and Engineering Center and China's oldest and most recognized 
     railway engineering school, Southwest Jiaotong University;
       Whereas, on December 5, 2014, China and the United States 
     will commemorate the 30th anniversary, and renew for another 
     ten years, the CHELBI partnership, which has created the 
     largest joint venture engineering consulting firm in China, 
     having undertaken over 600 bridge, road, and other projects 
     the designs of which meet World Bank and Asian Development 
     Bank standards, and has made significant progress in 
     engineering knowledge-sharing for road, bridge, and other 
     project design and construction between the United States and 
     China;
       Whereas several United States Department of Energy national 
     laboratories have established partnerships with research 
     institutions in China to advance energy research, including--
       (1) Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, which 
     has worked with the China Automotive Technology and Research 
     Center (CATARC) to promote energy-efficient vehicle 
     technologies and clean transportation fuels in China since 
     2003; and
       (2) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, 
     California, which has formed the China Energy Group to work 
     collaboratively with groups in China to understand the 
     dynamics of energy use, improve energy efficiency, reduce 
     emissions in China, strengthen Chinese capabilities in energy 
     efficiency, and enhance relationships on energy efficiency 
     among Chinese, United States, and international institutions;
       Whereas, in 2013, the State of California and the Chinese 
     Ministry of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding to 
     establish a working group to deepen cooperation in fields 
     such as biological pharmaceuticals, information technology, 
     agriculture, and energy;
       Whereas the exchange of ideas in science and technology and 
     shared research conducted in China and the United States 
     holds the potential to increase United States exports of non-
     sensitive commercial technologies to China;
       Whereas the agreement reached in November 2014 between the 
     United States and the People's Republic of China to expand 
     the scope of goods covered by the Information Technology 
     Agreement will further deepen trade, investment, and mutual 
     cooperation in science and technology;
       Whereas collaboration in science and technology since 1979 
     has provided both countries with the technological foundation 
     to make ambitious pledges to reduce future emissions of 
     carbon dioxide; and
       Whereas people-to-people exchanges conducted under the 
     Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation 
     in Science and Technology have fostered mutual understanding 
     of both countries and have led to joint research in science 
     and technology: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the cooperation in science and technology 
     between the Governments of the United States and the People's 
     Republic of China since 1979;
       (2) emphasizes the importance of open markets, intellectual 
     property rights, and the free exchange of information to the 
     development of science and technology; and
       (3) expresses continued support for the principles of the 
     Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China on Cooperation 
     in Science and Technology, done at Washington January 31, 
     1979, to which both countries remain committed.

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