Cliff Stearns: “as my colleagues come to the floor and vote, there are three questions that we must consider. First, will China comply…”

“as my colleagues come to the floor and vote, there are three questions that we must consider. First, will China comply with the agreements under PNTR better than they have done in the past? Two, will China continue to use its trade surplus with the U.S. to expand its military complex? Three, will democracy increase in China because of this agreement? Let us look at this first chart. I would like to point out that China has lowered its tariffs as part of its prior agreement. In fact, in 1995, they lowered it from 42 percent to 17 percent. But as my colleagues can see, the deficit increased dramatically. In fact, last year, it was $70 billion. So based on history, I questioned the real benefits of China's lowering its tariffs. I would also like to point out that while some agricultural products received very favorable treatment, others did not. So I submit that not everyone will benefit from this agreement. Remember, there are 700 million farmers in China, and we have about 2 million. In this chart, my colleagues will see that China consistently overproduces its agriculture commodities and actually exports some citrus products up to 300 times what it imports. Finally, can China be trusted? China, as we know, has violated both the letter and the spirit of past agreements, ranging from intellectual property rights to weapon proliferation. Furthermore, China's defense spending has grown roughly at the same rate as its economy.”