Political Quotes

“Madam President, if I had the time, I would contest a few things my colleague from Illinois said, but I am not going to make a political speech; I am going to speak on the bill that is currently before the Senate which is the China currency bill. So I rise to speak on the China currency bill. China's undervaluation of its currency is a serious problem. It is an issue I studied when I was a member of the Senate Banking Committee and now as a member of the Finance Committee. Earlier this year, I also had an opportunity to visit China with a number of my colleagues and learn more about this issue as we met with their government officials. It is clear the efforts of the Chinese Government to peg its currency against the dollar give unfair benefits to the Chinese exporters at the expense of U.S. manufacturers. The United States should take additional action to pressure their government to reevaluate Chinese currency. However, this is not a new problem. China currency has been a priority for both President George W. Bush and President Obama. Through a number of venues, including the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade talks, our officials at all levels have raised this issue with little response. This experience shows that action by the United States alone is not enough. We know other major global trading powers have the same concern, but we continue to act individually. Just this summer, the German Government made a renewed attempt to gain more flexibility in China's currency.…”