Political Quotes

“I rise this morning to speak about a particular provision of that bill, section 531. Section 531 is an important statement of United States policy toward our friends in Taiwan. Madam President, back in July of last year, I added an amendment to the State Department bill that reaffirmed the primacy of the Taiwan Relations Act, as the law of the land, over the 1982 joint United States-China communique known as the Shanghai Communique, a statement of policy. The Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 0 to reaffirm the primacy of the Taiwan Relations Act as the law of the land by accepting my amendment. I would remind this body that the Taiwan Relations Act was passed back in 1979 by a greater than two-thirds vote of each House. The TRA, as it is known, is really the cornerstone of our relationship with Taiwan. The Shanghai Communique, on the other hand, was the result of Executive communications that were never ratified by this body. I think the difference speaks for itself.”