[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 188 (Monday, December 5, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1215-E1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          AMERICA'S 21ST CENTURY TROJAN HORSE--THOMAS DRESSER

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                          HON. VICKY HARTZLER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 5, 2022

  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record 
an op-ed written by Dr. Thomas Dresser of Columbia, Missouri.

       A Trojan horse for the United States of America in the 21st 
     century is the container ship from China. The millions of 
     containers bring high quality and lower priced goods to our 
     country. The hidden cost is the loss of our ability to 
     provide for ourselves. We cannot live without the contents of 
     those containers, and we are becoming less able to produce 
     them for ourselves. Items essential for the existence of our 
     nation are made in China. This is a strategic mistake for the 
     USA.
       The original Trojan horse occurred when the Greek army was 
     trying to defeat the city of Troy. After the years-long siege 
     did not work, the Greeks pretended to leave but left

[[Page E1216]]

     the gift of a large wooden horse. The citizens took this into 
     the city, and during the night the hidden soldiers climbed 
     out of the horse, opened the city gates, and let in the Greek 
     army. Troy was defeated.
       Give credit to China for using our strength to defeat us. 
     Our strength is capitalism in a free market, which is using 
     the principle of producing something for less and making a 
     profit. The producer with the most products will take over 
     the market. When the market is controlled by one entity, 
     there is no competition. When there is no competition, you 
     win. China makes products for less, and they are not worried 
     about the profit. The profit will come later. It is 
     noteworthy that they have used the principles of one of 
     America's greatest entrepreneurs to overcome us. Sam Walton 
     founded Walmart in 1962 and created a retailing empire. The 
     company slogan is ``we sell for less''. This is true. China's 
     model is ``we produce for less''. This is a perfect match. 
     Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world. Check 
     their shelves and see how many products are made in China. 
     For that matter check the hardware store, the department 
     store, and the general marketplace for products. Made in 
     China dominates. Then there is the largest corporation in the 
     USA, Apple. How important is China to the manufacture of 
     their products? It's important. So, what if next Monday China 
     says, ``we are not shipping anything to the USA until further 
     notice!''. How would that affect Walmart, Apple, and the rest 
     of us? Unless we have a remedy for that, we are on the road 
     to serfdom.
       In 1990, the gross domestic product of the USA was $5.9T 
     and for China it was $361B. In 2021, the GDP for USA was $23T 
     and for China it was $17.7T. In just 31 years China has gone 
     from 6% to 77% of the GDP of the USA. If there is no change 
     in this model, then in a very short time China will be the 
     dominant economic power in the world. And the principles of 
     manufacturing greatly favor China. They don't have to worry 
     about minimum wage, labor unions, and environmental 
     standards. There is no way that the USA can compete in the 
     marketplace with these different standards.
       The ancient General Sun-tsu would be proud of his 
     descendants who took an opponent's strength (manufactured 
     goods) and turned that strength into a weakness. When China's 
     dominance in manufacturing grows to a critical level, then 
     total submission of our country can be affected without the 
     need of a single military action. This is every general's 
     dream.

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