Political Quotes

“today I rise because of my concern about granting permanent normal trade relations to China. Mr. Speaker, there are good people on both sides of this issue and as we consider granting China MFN; we need to be honest in our debate. Yesterday, the New York Times had an article written by Joseph Kahn with the headline, ``Executives Make Trade With China a Moral Issue.'' This article describes how some members of the business community in Florida approached one of our colleagues saying that passing MFN was a moral issue, that extending normal trade status to China is a moral necessity. Mr. Speaker, this could be a dangerous line of reasoning for those who favor granting China MFN, particularly given China's human rights record. In light of what so many Chinese citizens face at the hands of the Chinese Government, the term ``moral'' is of concern. There are now at least eight Roman Catholic bishops being held in prison. Here is a picture of one of those, Bishop Jia. He had been arrested on August 15, 1999, been arrested to prevent him from conducting mass on an important Roman Catholic feast. He is 66 years old, has been in jail in a Chinese labor camp for 20 years. I will tell the gentleman from Florida, this is a moral issue. Just a few days ago, the Chinese Government arrested another Roman Catholic bishop, surrounding him late in the night by 150 policemen. Scores of Roman Catholic laymen were arrested. This is a moral issue.”