Max Baucus: “I rise to speak in my capacity as Chairman of the Congressional Executive Commission on China. This commission was…”

“I rise to speak in my capacity as Chairman of the Congressional Executive Commission on China. This commission was created in the China PNTR legislation two years ago and has the mandate to monitor human rights and developments in the rule of law in China. Today, we transmitted the first annual report to the Congress and to the President. With passage of PNTR the Congress, and the country, declared that economic engagement was important--in terms of our own economic and strategic interests and in terms of our ability to promote and encourage change inside China. The commission was created to ensure that concerns about human rights and rule of law issues in China would continue to have a high priority in our government--in Congress and in the administration. That is why it includes members from both branches nine Senators, nine House members, and five Administration representatives appointed by the President. The commission membership itself reflects the broad range of views of China within the Congress. Yet we were able to develop a report that is supported by an overwhelming majority of our members. The vote in the commission was 18 to 5 in favor of the report. Let me turn to the report itself. This is the most comprehensive document produced by Congress on human rights in China. It pulls no punches in describing current human rights conditions in China.”