House Floor Statement of U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern on H.R. 3283, the Trade Rights Enforcement Act

Contact: Michael Mershon
(202) 225-6101

July 27, 2005

Mr. Speaker, once upon a time, there was a very good bill that clarified the right of the United States to bring countervailing duty cases against non-market economy nations, like China. Introduced by Congressmen English of Pennsylvania and Davis of Alabama, this bill was known as H.R. 1216. It was a good bill. It was a bipartisan bill. It was a straight-to-the-point bill.

Then one day, Mr. Speaker, this bill was drawn into a back room and transformed into a weak, watered-down, ineffective bill. No longer was it a bipartisan bill. No longer would it fix the problem of countervailing duties. And the bill got a new name, H.R. 3283, and was known as the Thomas-English China trade bill.

The House Leadership, in their arrogance, didn't bother with Committee hearings, expert testimony, Committee mark-ups, or amendments for this new bill. It went straight to the House floor under suspension of the rules. But yesterday, Mr. Speaker, the House decided that this time it would not accept this practice of approving bills that materialize out of nowhere. This time, the House decided it wanted a real debate on China's unfair trade practices and how best to remedy them. So the House did not provide the 2/3-rds majority needed for H.R. 3283 to go merrily on its way, and instead demanded that the bill be taken up under regular procedure.

And that's why we are here today, Mr. Speaker. But even under regular order, the Republican majority has done all that it can to stifle debate.

Mr. Speaker, let us take one more moment to grieve for the fate of poor H.R. 1216, a bill that might actually have accomplished something on countervailing duties. Or H.R. 1498, a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Ryan and Hunter, that might actually provide needed remedies to tackling China's currency manipulation. Or H.R. 3306, introduced by the Ranking Member on the Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Rangel, a comprehensive bill that addresses the real problems facing America in its trade with China - currency manipulation, export surges, barriers to U.S. exports of goods and services, and the right of American private sector and workers to challenge China's agricultural and manufacturing subsidies.

Each of these concrete proposals was presented to the Rules Committee last night in the form of amendments to the Thomas do-nothing bill. And the Republican Leadership shut them out and shut down debate.

Heaven forbid that this House might take up amendments that actually address the real issues surrounding China's unfair trade practices and provide genuine remedies.

Instead, Mr. Speaker, we are forced to settle for the Thomas bill - a bill that fails to offer solutions and fails to take action. Instead, the Thomas bill calls for more reports, more studies, and more dialogue. In fact, when the Thomas bill does take action, it actually opens up more loopholes for China to exploit, more ways for China to hide its subsidies, and more opportunities for China to manipulate and falsify its trade and economic data.

Mr. Speaker, standing up for American businesses and workers against China's unfair trade practices should be one of our top trade priorities. The growth of China's economy and its trade with the rest of the world is one of the most significant developments of the 21st Century - and the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership of this House have no effective policy for dealing with it.

Last year, the U.S. trade gap with China was $162 billion. This year, it is expected to climb to $225 billion. And China continues to engage in unfair trade practices, with billions lost to Chinese piracy of U.S. intellectual property, Chinese subsidies for its manufacturers, and Chinese currency manipulation harming U.S. exports.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this Rule and let this House have a real debate with meaningful amendments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I reserve the balance of my time.