Roth Urges Senate to Pass PNTR for China
WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr., (R-DE) who has been leading the floor debate for granting permanent normal trade relations to China, today delivered the following closing statement:
"Mr. President, we've had an excellent debate over PNTR, touching on many aspects of our complex relationship with China.
"It was important we had such an exhaustive discussion because the vote we are about to cast on PNTR will be a defining moment in the history of this chamber and in the history of our country.
"That's partly because passage of PNTR will create vast new opportunities for our workers, farmers and businesses. But it's also because PNTR will serve America's broader national interest in meeting what is likely to be our single greatest foreign policy challenge in the coming decades -- managing our relations with a rising China.
"China's accession to the WTO has been the subject of intense negotiations for the past 14 years. The market access package the U.S. Trade Representative reached with Beijing represents a remarkable achievement. From the point of view of every sector of the American economy, and from the perspective of every U.S. enterprise, no matter how big or small, the agreement holds the promise of new markets and future sales.
"For the citizens of my own state of Delaware -- from poultry farmers to auto workers to those in our chemical and services businesses -- gaining access to the world's largest country and fastest-growing market, which is what PNTR permits, offers extraordinary new opportunities.
"Mr. President, passage of PNTR is in our economic interest. I hope our debate has made that clear. But I hope my colleagues and the American people have come to understand why PNTR is also in our national interest.
"To gain entry to the WTO, China has been compelled to move its economy to a rules-based system and to end most forms of state control within roughly five years. Indeed, in a number of sectors of its economy, China will soon be more open to U.S. products and services than some of our developed-country trading partners in Asia and Europe.
"The results of China implementing its WTO obligations will be revolutionary. But contrary to what occurred in 1949, China will be transforming itself by adopting a fully-realized market economy, thereby returning individual property rights and economic freedom to the people of China.
"Why has China accepted such a capitalist revolution? As Long Yongtu, China's top WTO negotiator and Vice Minister of China's trade ministry, said earlier this year, what is 'most significant at present [is that] WTO entry will speed China's reform and opening up. Reform is the only outlet for China.'
"In other words, China has no choice. Its state-directed policies do not work; free markets and capitalism do.
"Mr. Long went on to say, 'China's WTO entry would let enterprises make their own business decisions and pursue benefits according to contracts and market principles. Liaison between enterprises and government will only hurt enterprises. Contracts kowtowing to government, though they look rosy on the surface, usually lead to failure. After joining the WTO, the government will be pressed to respect market principles and give up the approval economy.'
"Mr. President, I agree with those who say that the rise of China presents the United States with potentially our biggest foreign policy challenge. But I also believe it presents us with enormous opportunities. The single most important step the Senate can take to allow the United States to respond to that challenge adequately and seize those opportunities is to pass PNTR.
"We must, and we will, continue to press Beijing on the range of issues where our interests and values diverge, from human rights to proliferation to China's aggressive stance on territorial disputes.
"Yet a China fully immersed in the global trade regime, subject to all the rules and sanctions applicable to WTO members, is far likelier to live under the rule of law and to act in ways that comply with global norms. Indeed, the WTO is exactly the sort of multilateral institution that can act as a reinforcing mechanism to make China's interests more compatible with ours.
"As that happens, and as China's economic success increasingly comes to depend on stable and peaceful relations with its trading partners, Beijing will be more apt to play a constructive regional and global role.
"Finally, if Asia and much of the rest of the world are any guide, China's economic liberalization will accelerate its path toward greater political freedom. In East Asia alone, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand have amply demonstrated how economic freedom can stimulate democratic evolution.
Ultimately, China's participation in the WTO means the Chinese people will be given the chance to shape their own destiny. As Ren Wanding, the brave leader of China's Democracy Wall Movement said recently, 'Before the sky was black. Now there is light... [China's WTO accession] can be a new beginning.'
"Mr. President, when we pass PNTR, that new beginning will be for the American people just as surely as it will be for the people of China.
"So colleagues, let us begin anew by joining together to pass PNTR overwhelmingly.
"Before yielding, Mr. President, I'd like to say a few words of thanks to all those who worked so hard on this bill. First, I want to thank my dear friend, venerated colleague and always gracious Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, Sen. Moynihan. It's always a delight working with you Pat. I also want to thank Sens. Grassley, Thomas, Hagel, Roberts and Rod Grams for helping manage the floor.
"In addition, I'd like to thank Sen. Moynihan's committee staff, who are just as gracious as the Senator they work for -- David Podoff, Debbie Lamb, Linda Menghetti and Tim Hogan. And in Debbie's case, we all wish you well as you go off to begin work in the private sector.
"Finally, let me thank my own staff -- Frank Polk, Grant Aldonas, Faryar Shirzad, Tim Keeler, J.T. Young and Carrie Clark from the Finance Committee, and John Duncan and Dan Bob from my personal office. Thank you all for a job well done."
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