Wendy Sherman: “I am pro trade, I am pro engagement. I am against isolation. I am against protectionism. And I oppose this trade deal. I…”

“I am pro trade, I am pro engagement. I am against isolation. I am against protectionism. And I oppose this trade deal. I would oppose this trade deal if it was only for the bad effects it is going to have on human rights in China. I would oppose this trade deal alone for the reasons that it is going to have a bad impact on the American economy. And it would be sufficient to vote against this deal just because of its bad impact on the strategic and political interests of the United States. Yet all three compel a vote against this deal. This deal leaves out a discussion of labor and environmental standards, but we are told that it is going to cause China and its system of communism and oppression to unravel. But for 10 years we have been giving China everything it wants in the way of trade and for 10 years they have not unraveled but, instead, have beaten down harder on the voices of dissent. The Soviet Union unraveled with far less trade than what China enjoys with the United States today. We are told that the dissidents in China want this deal, but are they free to speak their minds, or do they face additional incarceration in the Chinese gulag should they dare to say anything but what they are told? We do not know what the real dissidents in China think, but we do know what the Central Committee of the Communist Party thinks.”