Political Quotes

“Exactly so. It should. I do not think we can name it for you, but it certainly will be one of the great measures you have achieved in a long career, not yet concluded. I would observe that it took some prodding to get the legislation sent up to us. In his State of the Union Address on January 27, 2000, the President called upon Congress to pass legislation authorizing PNTR for China ``as soon as possible this year.'' It took almost two months to get the Administration to produce a draft of the legislation, which the President formally transmitted to Congress on March 8. But we have it now, and the President is fully committed to this, and we ought to move swiftly. I want to clarify one important point: passage of this legislation will not determine whether China enters the WTO. China will enter the WTO regardless of Congress' action with respect to PNTR. But until we grant China PNTR, we cannot enter in to a full WTO relationship with China, which means that we cannot reap the full benefits of the trade agreement. This is because the WTO--under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the General Agreement on Trade in Services and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights-- requires that WTO members grant each other immediate and unconditional normal trading relations status. We do not do so now with respect to China.”