[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8860]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 8860]]

              PERMANENT NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS WITH CHINA

  (Mr. ROEMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, we cast a lot of votes in this body that are 
oftentimes quickly forgotten, but tomorrow


we will cast one that will be indelibly etched in the history books, 
whether or not this Congress supports the current status quo of too 
many human rights abuses and too many trade deficits with China or 
whether we want to change that policy.
  I will vote for permanent trade with China because it benefits 
America. We do not want to support the status quo with China.
  Just Friday, the European Union negotiated a new agreement with China 
where they will get certain benefits to get into those markets in 
China. Under this agreement, America does not open its markets one bit 
more to China; but we pry open markets for telecommunications, 
agriculture, manufacturing, and across the board.
  Our policy, Mr. Speaker, should be to pry open and penetrate those 
markets so that we export products, not jobs.

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