Political Quotes

“we have apparently reached an impasse on the FSC/ETI bill. I am the first one to acknowledge that our majority leader should be insistent we pass this bill. We are dealing with some changes to the tax policy of the United States to avoid tariffs on U.S.-manufactured products going into Europe. The WTO has ruled against us and we need to change our law. We have a lot of other things being added onto this bill that are probably not related to that but, as this bill is being touted as a jobs package, I think that is an appropriate way to describe what we are trying to accomplish in this bill. But I am going to be honest with you, I have an amendment I have had pending on this bill for a very long time, along with Senator Schumer, and this amendment deals with requiring the Chinese Government to float the currency. It basically says if within 180 days the Chinese Government does not take corrective action in the way they peg their currency to the dollar, then tariffs will be levied against any products coming out of China into the United States that benefit from that currency devaluation. To make a long story short: China cheats. The Chinese have a system of valuing their money that creates between a 15-percent and 40-percent discount on all products produced in China. This currency manipulation is putting our manufacturing community at a severe disadvantage. It is creating an unfair advantage for Chinese-produced products, and it is done by the Government.”