The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2001” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S6804-S6805 on July 15, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2001
Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about hate crimes legislation I introduced with Senator Kennedy in March of last year. The Local Law Enforcement Act of 2001 would add new categories to current hate crimes legislation sending a signal that violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society.
I would like to describe a terrible crime that occurred June 10, 2000, in Albuquerque, NM. A man in a minivan yelling obscenities ran down participants in a gay pride parade. One victim was hit twice in the knees and thrown off the hood. The perpetrator tried to swerve into the crowd three times before police finally pulled him out of the vehicle and arrested him.
I believe that government's first duty is to defend its citizens, to defend them against the harms that come out of hate. The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2001 is now a symbol that can become substance. I believe that by passing this legislation and changing current law, we can change hearts and minds as well.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise to note the release on July 15, 2002 of the first annual report of the U.S.-China Security Review Commission.
Shortly after the enactment in the year 2000 of legislation giving China Permanent Normal Trade Relations, PNTR, the Congress, thanks to the leadership of Senator Robert C. Byrd, passed legislation creating the U.S.-China Security Review Commission. According to the law that established the Commission, its purpose is to ``monitor, investigate and report to the Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United Stats and the People's Republic of China''. The legislation which created the Commission charges it to submit an annual report to the Congress with recommendations for action, if any.
The bi-partisan Commission is composed of twelve commissioners, three of whom were appointed by each of the Congressional leaders in both the House and Senate. To prepare itself to issue its first Report the Commission held nine open hearings and took testimony from 115 witnesses on 35 separate panels. It also contracted for new research on China from a variety of sources including extensive translation and analysis of articles on economic, political, and trade issues that are appearing in influential Chinese publications. Members of the Commission also traveled to China, Taiwan, Japan, and the headquarters of the World Trade Organization, WTO, in Geneva. During its deliberations the Commission developed a broad bi-partisan agreement on the issues it was charged by Congress to study, and it adopted its first report by a vote of 11-1.
Among its key findings are that the United States, by acting as China's largest export market and a key investor in the Chinese economy, has been a major contributor to China's rise as an economic power. It further notes that our trade relationship with China is not only our largest trade deficit in absolute terms, but is the most unbalanced trading relationship maintained by the United States.
The Report further notes that while U.S. imports from China constitute over 40 percent of China's exports, U.S. exports to China represent only two percent of our total exports. It finds that the U.S. trade deficit with China is not only in low-skilled labor intensive items, but also in a majority of items found on the Commerce Department's list of advanced technology products. It further finds that there is plausible evidence that our burgeoning trade deficit with China will worsen regardless of China's entry into the WTO.
The Report also discusses the fast increasing trade and investment linkages between China and Taiwan which the Commission notes ``could ameliorate tensions between the two'', but which are also increasing
``U.S. dependence on the items made in China for our computer electronics and other high technology products''.
The Report makes a number of recommendations to better the chances for building a better long-term mutually beneficial economic and political relationship with China. Among these are: 1. That we put in place new programs to build a much wider expertise about China both in our society and among policymakers, and 2. that we take new measures to keep our industrial, scientific, and technological base from eroding as a result of our economic relations with a China whose government has adopted policies to expand its own base even at our expense.
I think this first Report of the Commission makes a very valuable contribution to our policy deliberations on China. It will be very helpful to the Congress as we examine how to respond to the challenges to our country posed by China's strengthening economic, military, and political profiles. We can best craft sensible policies if we better understand the perceptions that Chinese leaders have of us and what their long-term goals are. Judging the Commission's Report will help us do both.
I salute Senator Byrd for his wisdom in calling for the creation of the Commission and thank all of its Commissioners for the important contributions that their first Report makes to our knowledge of the U.S.-China economic and political relationship. I commend the Report to my fellow Senators.
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