Date: 2000-05-23
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong opposition to granting permanent normal trade relations with China. China should not be rewarded for its domestic and international record of abuses of workers. religious leaders and democracy activists. nor for its repeated abrogations of international treaties. An annual review of this Nations trade status as opposed to permanent certification such as this bill would provide is a critical means by which China and other nations can be held accountable for their actions. We need to do this since as The New York Times noted today. China is not known for its strict adherence to trade agreements. In fact. it is known for exactly the opposite. Granting permanent normal trade relations with China as well as the countrys accession to the WTO represent another missed opportunity to incorporate strong protections for human rights. worker rights. and environmental rights in trade agreements. I agree that expanded trade under the right terms can raise standards of living for all. but I will continue to fight for fair agreements that- ensure that standards to protect the environment. workers. and human rights are not compromised in the process. Unfortunately. granting PNTR will only exacerbate the race to the bottom where corporations can circle the globe looking for and pressuring for the lowest standards. setting up lowwage sweatshops. dumping their pollution. and creating unsafe conditions for the public. This race to the bottom pus countries with higher standards at a disadvantage and makes new environmental and workers protections harder to enact. Most supporters of PNTR and WTO acceptance for China admit that China continues to be a rogue nation. Even the Clinton Administrations own briefing book in favor of PNTR for China says: "China denies or curtails basic freedoms. including freedom of speech. association. and religion." But proponents -argue that economic engagement will ultimately result in a more democratic system there. I disagree. Chinas pattern of violating the rights of its own people has continued despite the increased economic ties of most favored nation status that Congress has granted year after year. The State Departments most recent Annual Country Report of Human Rights report states that Chinas human record has "deteriorated markedly throughout the year as the government intensified efforts to suppress dissent." The first report of the congressionally chartered United States Commission on International Religious Freedom noted that "Chinese government violations of religious freedom increased markedly during the past year." The Commission recommended against Congress granting PNTR until China makes demonstrated and substantial progress in respect for religious freedom. The National Labor Committee issued a report on May 10 that gives a picture of the unacceptable working conditions that flourish inside many factories in China making goods for US companies like WalMart. Nike and Huffy. May 23..2000 The NLC found factories making goods for American companies where workers were being held under conditions of indentured servitude. forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day. seven days a week. with only one day off a month. while earning an average wage of 3 cents an hour. Even after months of work. 46 percent of the workers surveyed earned nothing at allin fact they owed money to the company. The workers were allowed out of the factory for just an hour and a half a day. And when the workers protested being forced to work from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.. seven days a week. for literally pennies an hour. 800 workers were fired. There is no credible reason to believe that conditions like these will be improved by giving up our right to review to Chinas trade status. The U.S. bilateral negotiating position with China would be crippled if the country were granted PNTR and admitted to the WTO. Our large trade deficit with China. expected to be over $60 billion this year. potentially gives the U.S. significant bargaining power to enforce and strengthen our existing trade laws. But this bargaining power would be further limited by the WTO. Some have argued that parallel legislation or a side agreement will remedy the problems I have discussed. But. we have been down that side agreement road before and it is not pretty. It is filled with the raw sewage and other environmental destruction that lines the border with Mexico under the NAFTA side agreement. Finally. Chinas history of failing to comply with trade agreements leads me to view new agreements with a skeptical eye. China has broken nearly every agreementfrom market access to prison labor to intellectual property rightsit has made with the United States. For example. in 1992 and 1994. China signed agreements that it would not export products made by slave labor to the US and would allow visits of US officials to any suspected site. But. the State Departments Human Rights Report specifically finds that: "in all cases [of forced labor identified by US customs]. the [Chinese] Ministry of Justice refused the request. ignored it. or simply denied it without further elaboration. This is not a record worthy of further trust. I believe that China should be held accountable for its widespread abuses. Granting China special status as a trading partner is the wrong way to accomplish that goal. I urge my Colleagues to join me in opposition to PNTR for China.