[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17873-17875]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      CHINA NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of 
H.R. 4444, a bill establishing permanent normal trade relations with 
the People's Republic of China.
  I strongly believe that permanent normal trade relations will have a 
substantial and long-term political, economic, and national security 
benefit for our country. I have long maintained that as China becomes a 
member of the global community, its government and its people will 
benefit from these changes and the United States will benefit from 
better relations and, eventually, I believe, from a more liberal and 
less oppressive government.
  Much of China's recent past has been marked by progression and 
regression, starts and fits toward economic liberalization that impact 
all levels of society, only to be matched by periods of oppression, 
when the government feels that things are getting out from underneath 
its thumb. This one-step-forward, two-steps-back pace shows how truly 
feared the market place is in a Communist country. And I believe that 
if you are a true Communist, you do fear the marketplace. For it is 
that marketplace--the private sector--that will eventually prove to be 
the downfall of the Communist system in any country.
  Like many of my colleagues, I am genuinely and deeply concerned about 
human rights abroad. For that reason, I traveled to China last year to 
investigate the human rights situation and to determine the state of 
religious freedom in that country. WTO membership and normal trade 
relations with China will eventually improve the human rights situation 
and, I believe, religious freedom in that country. The past few 
decades' gradual opening of trade, investment, and cultural exchanges 
with China have led to positive steps in the area of human rights and 
religious tolerance. That is not to say that all is well. There is much 
work to be done in the area of human rights, but on balance a ``carrot 
and a stick'' approach is better than the stick alone.

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  Globalization is part of ``the carrot.'' It is globalization--the 
economic integration of their economy--that will introduce the Chinese 
people to new ideas and information. I believe that as a free market 
economy, we have a moral and ethical obligation to other nations to 
help them move toward free markets and into the global economy. Our own 
history shows the results of not pressing for this integration. During 
the late 19th century and also following World War I, our negligence in 
integrating both Japan and Germany had horrible results that 
reverberated through much of the 20th century. We must not make the 
same type of mistake with China.
  The economic benefits to the United States of H.R. 4444 are great. 
Our markets to a great degree are already open to Chinese goods; this 
legislation will open their markets to our goods. This is good for 
America. And it is good for the people of my home State of Oregon. In 
the first year following China's membership in the global economy--
economists predict trade will double with the United States. China is 
the sixth-largest market in the world for American agricultural 
products--and following WTO membership, that trade will account for 
one-third of the growth in exports over the next 10 years. In addition, 
according to the World Bank, China will spend an estimated $750 billion 
in new infrastructure over the next decade.
  This is wonderful for the United States, but let me take a moment and 
tell you what it will do for Oregon. My State is the Nation's largest 
producer of solid wood products and an important agricultural exporter. 
China's accession to the WTO and normal trade relations will benefit:
  Wheat.--Oregon is a large wheat-growing State and China's grain 
policies will become more market-oriented. In addition, the 1999 U.S.-
China bilateral trade agreement resulted in more exports of Northwest 
grain.
  Vegetables.--Oregon is a major producer of beans, corn, and onions. 
Under the new agreements, tariffs on vegetables will drop by up to 60 
percent.
  Fruit.--Oregon grows berries, pears, cherries, and plums. China will 
reduce tariffs by up to 75 percent for fresh and processed deciduous 
fruit; and tariffs on apples, pears, and cherries will fall from 30 
percent to 10 percent.
  Solid wood.--China is the world's third-largest wood importer and 
after WTO accession, it will substantially reduce its remaining tariffs 
on valued-added wood products within the next 4 years.
  Much has been said on the floor of the Senate in these past few weeks 
regarding normal trade relations with China. I have to confess that I 
do not think the arguments against this legislation stand on their own 
merit. Most of what I have heard in opposition to NTR has reflected the 
desire to punish China, the need to sanction China or the need to block 
China.
  Those opposing this legislation have formed their arguments around 
the conclusion that NTR is really just a great plum for China and 
benefits only China. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As I 
previously stated our markets are already open to the Chinese--we 
already buy Chinese goods. This legislation will open up their market 
and it is a vast pool of consumers, to our goods. It benefits the 
United States economy. This debate is about advancing American values 
halfway around the world. Ninety-nine years ago Teddy Roosevelt, 
speaking at a state fair, said: ``There is a homely adage which runs 
`Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far,' '' At that time, 
the big stick meant America's warships and a show of American might 
abroad. Now the stick means America's economic might and American 
values. Free and fair trade is the weapon--the economic weapon of the 
21st century.
  It is free and fair global trade that will strengthen the forces of 
economic and political reform in China. It is free and fair global 
trade that will bring greater prosperity to both the United States and 
the Chinese people. It is free and fair global trade that will bolster 
human rights and improve religious freedom in that country. America can 
advance its values and help China integrate into the world economy with 
the help of this important legislation. I call on my colleagues to send 
a clean PNTR bill to the President and ask for his swift signature.


                           amendment no. 4132

  Mr. President, I rise to oppose the Thompson amendment which would 
add a sanctions mechanism and annual review regarding Chinese 
proliferation of nuclear and other weapons. I would like to take a 
moment and go over the problems with this legislation. While the issue 
of weapons proliferation is a serious one, most of the elements of the 
Thompson legislation are already covered by current law. As many of my 
colleagues have noted, there are already numerous laws regarding 
nuclear proliferation, some of these laws include:
  No. 1, the Export-Import Bank Act; No. 2, the Arms Control and 
Disarmament Act; No. 3, the Arms Export Control Act; No. 4, the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This list goes on and on. 
Further, I have never been a great fan of unilateral actions. 
Multilateral programs agreements are by far the best and most effective 
approach.
  The problem with unilateral sanctions is that they, at the end of the 
day, are rarely effective in achieving foreign policy goals. The 
history of our foreign policy is littered with a trail of ineffectual 
unilateral sanctions. The really harmful impact of this set of 
unilateral sanctions will fall on American exporters. Many of these 
sanctions will, at the end of the day, have the effect of blocking our 
export sales, by blocking U.S. credits or preventing financing. These 
actions will not have an effect on the underlying problem--they will 
only replace all sanctioned American products with foreign products. 
And we are not talking about military sales in many cases. The scope of 
this legislation is exceedingly broad and includes civilian transfers 
that do not actually contribute to proliferation problems.
  The Thompson amendment will also tie the hands of future 
administrations. It will not allow any flexibility for a future 
President to make a decision based on contemporary issues involving the 
state of the Sino-American relationship at that time. And finally, as 
we all know, the politics of the situation dictate a clean PNTR bill. 
Simply put, this legislation will effectively kill this bill. If we are 
to pass PNTR during this Congress it is imperative we have a bill that 
will not require another vote in the House.
  Mr. President, as I have shown up on the floor and have listened to 
the debate on PNTR. I have seen many people, Republican and Democrat, 
proposing amendments to this bill that have great appeal to me. They 
have great appeal to me because they advance noble principles. They 
advance American ideals. They advance the best of what we want to 
spread around the world. Economic freedom, human rights, improved labor 
conditions, improved environmental conditions, all of these things I 
support. But I fear the real motive behind some of these is to scuttle 
this trade agreement. I oppose that.
  I also point out, as many others have, when it comes to these 
security issues, slavery issues, and whatnot, we already have these 
laws on the books to protect this country. We should not accede in this 
environment, in this debate, on a vote this important to scuttle this 
trade agreement because to do so would shortchange the American people 
and certainly the people of my State.
  I conclude with this story from my own life. The story is a lesson 
that has, frankly, governed much of my thinking with respect to trade 
and military security and foreign relations since I have been an adult.
  I was a student at Brigham Young University, taking a class in 
military history. It was at the end of the Vietnam war. My professor 
was a retired Air Force general. There was great turmoil on the 
campuses of the United States. He made a comment that struck me and 
caught my attention. This professor's name was Phillip Flammer.
  He said: We made a mistake to bomb the North Vietnamese with military

[[Page 17875]]

armaments. That caught my attention--in a conservative place like this 
university, that a statement such as that would be made.
  I thought: That is interesting.
  He said: We should have bombed them, but we should have bombed them 
with Sears catalogs.
  I thought: Hmm, there is a lesson I will remember.
  His point was, if we want to tear down the walls of communism, we do 
it with our trade. We do it with our commerce. We do it with our 
culture. We do it with our communications to the world.
  We have seen in Communist country after Communist country that when 
they are exposed to the miracles of the marketplace, what happens is a 
middle class develops. When a middle class develops, people begin to 
demand, with economic liberty, that they have political liberty as 
well.
  So if you are interested in improving human rights, improving the 
environment, improving access for Americans to their markets, then this 
vote on PNTR is perhaps the most important vote that we will cast in 
this Congress, or perhaps any other for the economic future of our 
country.
  If you care about spreading American values, resist these amendments, 
resist voting no to PNTR because you will do more to spread American 
values, American democracy, and advance American security by supporting 
this agreement than you can ever do by trying to amend it, to kill it, 
or by trying to vote in opposition to it when we come to a final vote.
  I do not, for a moment, question the motives of anyone who is against 
this. Again, I admire the ideals advanced. But I simply question this 
method, this bill, at this time, to scuttle this most important 
agreement.
  So I urge my colleagues to vote for PNTR and vote against the 
Thompson amendment--well-motivated but misguided at this time, given 
the laws we already have.
  America needs this. We should not cede the Chinese market to the 
European nations. We should be there ourselves. They are already here. 
We have yet to go there.
  I urge an ``aye'' vote on the agreement and a ``no'' vote on the 
Thompson amendment.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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