Political Quotes

“I am here today to talk about an important vote that I took 19 years ago, a vote about free trade from China. Now, you might say it is a little out of character, coming down to the floor and talking about free trade and China, because normally I am down here talking about how China is investing in their military at unprecedented rates or how they are passing us up in terms of our military, which we saw in the last administration. The reality is that when it comes to China--which is entirely controlled by a tyrannical Communist party--you cannot separate their trade behavior from their military like you can in a democratic government. China asserts its power both economically and militarily to the detriment of the free world. So 19 years ago, I came down to the Senate floor and took a stand against the tyrannical regime in China. The vote was on whether or not to allow the Chinese Government normalized trade relationships with the United States that would pave the way for China to join the World Trade Organization. At that time, it was not popular--it was not popular for any Member of the Senate who stood in the way of free trade agreements, much less a Republican. But as I saw it then, the vote did much more than open up trade. It granted favors to an authoritarian regime, despite their openly predatory actions, without demanding concessions in return. My colleagues claimed that opening China to free trade would cause China to change their behavior.…”