23 May 2000
House Begins Debate on China PNTR
(Rep. Bill Archer says support PNTR) (490) By Steve LaRocque Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The House of Representatives began debate on granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status May 23. The debate will continue on May 24. Representative Bill Archer (Republican of Texas), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee began the debate by saying PNTR for China was in America's best interest. Representative Sander Levin (Democrat of Michigan), the co-author of framework legislation that would create an Executive-Congressional Commission to monitor China's human rights, spoke approvingly of the anti-import surge protections built into the legislation granting China PNTR. "This Commission which we have put together on paper will, if we work on it be effective in reality," Levin said. Putting PNTR with the framework legislation, he said, meets the needs to both engage and confront China. Quoting Chinese reformers, Levin said, China is at a "tipping point," if PNTR is rejected, he warned, U.S.-China relations could descend into "chaos." The PNTR vote, Representative Nancy Pelosi (Democrat of California) said, gives Congress the chance to take a stand against a China that engages in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Beyond that, she said, China has never lived up to a trade agreement. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (Republican of California) complained that China could commit genocide in Tibet without a complaint from American businesses because they want to invest in China, closing factories in America and using slave labor in China. "We have been dealing with gangsters, and now we want to put them into the Chamber of Commerce," he said of China's entry into the World Trade Organization. PNTR, he said, "is against the interest of the United States." Representative Phil Crane (Republican of Illinois), a long-time supporter of PNTR, said the answer is to engage China. Representative Jim Ramstad echoed Crane, calling the vote for PNTR an opportunity to help the American economy, citing China's tariffs that will have to be lowered on a range of American products. Representative John LaFalce (Democrat of New York) spoke out in favor of PNTR, comparing the situation in 1979 when the United States re-established relations with Beijing. "We can either draw a circle that includes China or excludes China," he said, "History demands a yes vote." He was answered by Representative Frank Wolf (Republican of Virginia) who said a vote for PNTR would put the United States "on the wrong side of history." "We cannot reward China, when it oppresses its own people," said Representative John Lewis (Democrat of Georgia), a leader of the civil rights movement in the United States. Recalling Tiananmen Square, he urged the Congress to reject PNTR for China. The debate will continue May 24. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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