TJ Cox: “Mr. Speaker, our relations with the People's Republic of China are multidimensional. We have trade relations, we have…”

“Mr. Speaker, our relations with the People's Republic of China are multidimensional. We have trade relations, we have security relations, and yes, we care about human rights in China. Yes, we should talk about these things always together. But there are people of good will on both sides who believe that keeping tariff rates low is a way for us to engage China. That is the view of the President of the United States. While I am one who has voted against MFN, and so probably do not fall into the category that my colleague just described of being inconsistent, I do not see it as hypocrisy when people wish to stand up for human rights and also wish to stand up for low tariff rates. It seems to me that when we have a vote on this in just a little while, we are likely to have about 90 percent of the Congress voting together, because on either side of the MFN issue, we ought to agree that human rights in China are important. Because our relations, our bilateral relations with the People's Republic of China are complex, it is, to state the obvious, that human rights is not all there is. But if the President of the United States were to appear in Tiananmen Square, with all of the symbolism that that carries, were to appear in this very public killing field, that visit, that event, would be all about human rights and nothing else. That is why the President ought not to do it.”