Mike Thompson: “we have had a good debate over the last 2 or 3 days on the amendment Senator Torricelli and I have set forth. We have…”

“we have had a good debate over the last 2 or 3 days on the amendment Senator Torricelli and I have set forth. We have had a good discussion about the continued reports we have that the Chinese, Russians, and North Koreans continue to litter this world with weapons of mass destruction. And it endangers our country. Bipartisan groups all across the board, just over the last 2 years, continue to remind us of this threat that is growing--it is not diminishing; it is growing. These same people tell us that the key suppliers are these three countries. As late as 1996, we were reminded, once again, that the People's Republic of China was the worst proliferator of weapons of mass destruction in the entire world. We have had a good discussion on that. We have had a discussion about the fact that the leaders of the PRC have told us they are going to continue to do that, whether we like it or not, as long as we talk about protecting ourselves with a missile defense system and as long as we continue to befriend Taiwan. We have sent three delegations of distinguished Americans and leaders, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, high-level people, to try to get them to relent and stand down from activities that endanger us, our children, and our grandchildren and make this world a more dangerous place. The leadership of the Chinese Government give us basically the back of their hand.”