David Thomas: “I appreciate the comments. I do not think there is any question that we should understand how important that is to the…”

“I appreciate the comments. I do not think there is any question that we should understand how important that is to the People's Republic of China. It probably means more to them than it does to us and we need to recognize that. So my colleagues can see that these five sections, taken independently, are of little if any import. Some of my colleagues have said that, while that may be the case, taken together they are alarming. Well, Mr. President, if separately these sections equal zero, then they still equal zero when added together. I take exception to the argument of the Senator from Louisiana that United States-China relations were going along fine until we decided to admit President Li to the United States, and that these sections will simply make matters worse. Frankly, that's a statement I would expect to hear from the Chinese Ambassador here. What about their nuclear transfers to Pakistan? What about their failure to live to the intellectual property rights agreement? What about their pretensions in the Spratly Islands? What about human rights violations? What about their back-sliding regarding Hong Kong? Mr. President, the present state of affairs is hardly the sole fault of the United States. And these give sections are hardly going to cause a precipitous downturn in those relations. As the Chinese say, it takes two hands to clap. So again Mr. President, I rise in support of this proposal. I think it is one of the things that the voters said to us in 1994.”