Political Quotes

“in a moment here, as my colleagues gather, we hope to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. I first acknowledge all of the people who worked so hard on it--our staffs, obviously, and, in addition, Senators Cardin, Risch, Menendez, and over 50 cosponsors, many of whom will join us here this evening. I also thank Leaders McConnell and Schumer for their support in helping us get here. I thank Chairman Crapo, who has helped us make some important changes at the end that will make the sanctions easier to implement. A lot of people have been watching on the news the protests that have been going on in Hong Kong and are wondering as to, perhaps, the depths of what it is all about. When the United Kingdom handed Hong Kong over to China, they signed an agreement that is known as the Joint Declaration. It basically guarantees a high degree of autonomy and freedom of the people of Hong Kong. As a result of that agreement, the United States has treated commerce and trade with Hong Kong differently than it has its commercial and trade activity with the mainland of China. What has happened over the last few years is the steady effort, on the part of Chinese authorities, to erode that autonomy and those freedoms. The most recent protests really began with a proposal to pass an extradition law that would allow the Chinese Government to basically have arrested and extradite someone in Hong Kong over to the mainland.…”