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U.S. Leaders Push Passage of China Trade Bill
U.S. President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Republican presumptive presidential candidate George W. Bush made speeches on different occasions Wednesday, urging Congress to approve permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China.
Clinton, speaking to the graduating class of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, warned Congress that rejecting PNTR with China would invite "a future of dangerous confrontation and constant insecurity."
"I believe a 'no' vote invites a future of dangerous confrontation and constant insecurity," he said. House Speaker Hastert, talking to reporters at the House triangle, said granting PNTR to China is good for both American and Chinese people.
"It is a top priority of U.S. Congress," Hastert said. He said that China, now the 4th largest trade partner of the United States, will become the world's largest market which U.S. farmers and products will benefit from after its accession to the World Trade Organization.
Granting PNTR status to China will make it easier for the U.S. to export its commodities overseas, said Hastert, who appeared with some representatives of farmers from his home state of Illinois.
Earlier Wednesday, Texas governor George W. Bush also urged Congress to extend PNTR status to China to boost U.S. sales overseas.
Speaking to an audience of several hundred at a Boeing Co. airplane factory in Washington State, Bush said political differences should not prevent the House from voting in favor of the agreement.
"For businesses and workers and farmers across our country, it will mean much lower trade barriers, important opportunities for U.S. exports and more work and jobs for United States workers," he said.
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