[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16657]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   END CHINESE CURRENCY MANIPULATION

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I recently visited two factories in my 
district in Woonsocket, Rhode Island--a textile mill, Hanora Spinning; 
and a producer of personal care products, Diversified Distribution. 
These businesses had a clear message: They believe in making it in 
America, but they need an even playing field.
  The U.S. has the best workers in the world and makes the best 
products in the world, but we need policies that allow us to compete 
and prevent cheating by our global competitors. Rhode Island 
businesses, American businesses, can't compete with their Chinese 
counterparts who keep their currency artificially low so their imports 
are cheaper than U.S. goods.
  It's time to end this unfair practice, and I'm calling on the 
Republican leadership in the House to allow a vote on the Currency 
Reform for Fair Trade Act. This is a bipartisan bill that could create 
between 500,000 and 2 million jobs. Ending the cheating by our trading 
partners, especially the Chinese, we can level the playing field for 
American manufacturers and create jobs. We must bring H.R. 639 to the 
floor for a vote now.

                          ____________________