JOHN LINDER: “I am the first one to stipulate that China has problems with its people and its government on human rights on labor and…”

“I am the first one to stipulate that China has problems with its people and its government on human rights on labor and the environment. But after approving normal trade relations for 20 years, have we changed that? Is this about that? This is not a gift to the Chinese Government. It may be a gift to America's workers. We already have the lowest tariffs in the world, and all this will do will take down the tariffs in China and open a market of 1.3 billion people to our workers to sell goods and services. It may be a gift to the Chinese people because they will have a much broader range of consumer products at a much lower price for them to buy, to enhance their standard of living. Why permanent? The American businessman and woman needs some degree of predictability to make commitments over the long haul, and going back to the well once a year to ever-increasing votes, but once a year to hammer China on human rights to wonder if they are going to have open markets again does not give them the ability to make long-range plans.”