Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Illinois for his remarks. In a few minutes, we are going to vote on a bill that could actually change the course of how we trade with China. For a decade, getting worse every year, China has taken advantage of America in every way. Currency is at the top of the list, but it has been the theft of intellectual property, it has been the subsidy of indigenous Chinese businesses, it has been monopolizing things such as rare earth, and it has been excluding American products from China when those products would have a competitive advantage. For the first time, this body, in a bipartisan way, has the ability to say enough is enough. Uncle Sam is no longer Uncle Sap. We are going to create fair trade with China. This relates to our future because it no longer is competition over shoes or clothing or furniture--labor-intensive businesses. It is competition over the most high-end things we do. Our companies can win and create jobs here in America if China plays by the rules and plays fairly. But everyone who has been up close and seen the way the Chinese operate know that will not happen by persuasion, by multilateral talks, by wishing it were so or even by the healing of time. It will only happen if America stands up for itself--for fairness, for equal treatment. For the first time, we have the opportunity to get that to happen. Some say this is a symbolic bill. It is not.…”