Mike Levin: “Mr. Speaker, as we all know, we had a very thorough and informed debate in the House just a few months ago on these very…”

“Mr. Speaker, as we all know, we had a very thorough and informed debate in the House just a few months ago on these very issues. The spotlight is now on the Senate. There is a clear majority there for passage of permanent NTR, and I express the hope of many of us that there can be full debate on the Senate side and action there expeditiously, which I think should mean within the next few weeks. I want to dwell on the major challenges ahead, because clearly the U.S.-China economic relationships are at the beginning of a new phase; they are far from their final form. So I believe there is a need to focus on these challenges, and we cannot simply put our economic relationships and our broader relationships with China on automatic pilot. As we know, there were major provisions in the legislation that passed the House that attempt to address these very critical challenges, and we need to focus on their effective implementation. The legislation set up a high-level executive congressional commission to be a continuing watchdog and a creative force in the area of human rights, including worker rights. We need to be sure during this session that that legislation is adequately funded.”