Cliff Stearns: “the question can be summed up in two words: self-aggrandizement. Is our interest in self-aggrandizement in this Nation…”

“the question can be summed up in two words: self-aggrandizement. Is our interest in self-aggrandizement in this Nation more important than the principles involved? Are we a Nation whose purpose is expanding business at all costs, no matter what? Or do we have a Nation where some principles are important to us? Is expanding trade with China more important than the fundamental principles that define the beginning of this Nation? Is the loss of trade harmful to the economy, so harmful that we are willing to sacrifice any principle, or is there a higher good in which to lead our Nation in our trading practices? I believe there is a much higher purpose today. How can we support trade policy with a Nation that believes in the power of the State rather than the power of the people? We are subsidizing through our trade policy China's economic interests, which is controlled by the State, and the people who are existing in that country get no benefit. Mr. Speaker, I do not pretend to know all the answers. Maybe there is a compromise. China in the very near future can become a strategic threat, and this strategic threat is more important to us than trade.”