Political Quotes

“I wish to speak for a few minutes about an amendment I introduced that, in my view, gets to the heart of some of the more troubling Chinese trade policies that are threatening the economic security and the long-term competitiveness of our country. It is well known that many American companies operating in China are required to transfer their intellectual property and proprietary technology to China as a prerequisite for doing business in that country. I will repeat that they are required to transfer this technology. Despite assurances from the Chinese leadership earlier this year that this was no longer ``official'' Chinese policy, China does continue to be aggressive and overt in its pursuit of foreign intellectual property as it seeks to develop its own, what it calls indigenous innovation. Companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse, among many others, have been required to transfer proprietary technology to Chinese counterparts in order to do business there. If a private company has developed technology on its own and it makes a business decision to transfer that technology to a joint venture partner in a place such as China, unless there are national security issues, we are obligated to respect the free marketplace. They may be seeking short-term profits at the expense of long-term competitiveness, but that is a business decision.…”