Texts: DeLay Amendment, Remarks on Chinese Bill for EP-3 Incident
(DeLay says U.S. must not "pay tribute" to China)House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (Republican of Texas) successfully offered an amendment to an appropriations bill July 18 that would deny the use of those funds to pay China for holding and repatriating a U.S. reconnaissance plane and its crew.
Specifically, the DeLay amendment says that none of the funds in the FY-2002 appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State may be used to reimburse China for any costs associated with the return of the Navy EP-3 aircraft that collided with a Chinese jet fighter April 1, 2001, or with the 11-day detention of its 24 crewmembers.
The Chinese government presented the United States with a bill for $1 million dollars for expenses it says it incurred in holding and then repatriating the crew and plane.
It must never be American policy "to pay tribute to aggressive regimes," Delay said.
To pay Beijing would be to "abdicate a role as the leading defender" of free movement through the world's skies and international waters, he continued.
"As illogical and unbelievable as it may sound, today Communist leaders in Beijing are soberly demanding that the people of the United States pay them $1 million in compensation," Delay told lawmakers during debate on the House floor.
"The idea that American taxpayers should start rewarding Communist piracy is as contemptible as it is unlikely to happen," he continued.
"This Congress will never allow a single dollar to be used to compensate the perpetrators of an international aggression," Delay added. "This is simply the latest example of the reckless, ruthless, and irrational mindset of China's Communist government."
"Jiang Zemin and his circle of apparatchiks will never deter America from flying patrols to the frontier of freedom," he said.
The DeLay amendment passed in a roll call vote 424-6 July 18.
Following are the texts of the amendment and Delay's speech from the July 18 Congressional Record:
(begin text of amendment)
AMENDMENT NO. 17 OFFERED BY MR. DELAY
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 17 offered by Mr. DELAY:Page 108, after line 22, insert the following:
TITLE VIII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 801. None of the funds appropriated in this Act may be used to negotiate or pay any request or claim by the Government of the People's Republic of China for reimbursement of the costs associated with the detention of the crewmembers of the United States Navy EP-3 aircraft that was forced to land on Hainan Island, China, on April 1, 2001, or for reimbursement of any of the costs associated with the return of the aircraft to the United States.
(end text of amendment)
(begin text of DeLay's speech)
Mr. DELAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise to offer an amendment that will stop any payment from being sent from the United States Government to the Communist Chinese Government that is related to the downing of our Navy EP-3 aircraft and the detention of our crewmembers.
I take this amendment, quite frankly, from a bill authored by the gentleman from California (Mr. LANTOS), a more extensive bill than this amendment; but I appreciate the fight that the gentleman from California (Mr. LANTOS) is putting up, and I appreciate him in this regard.
I must say that in offering this amendment it must never be American policy to pay tribute to aggressive regimes. Such a payment would not only violate a hard-won tradition of confronting international aggression, it would force America to abdicate a role as the leading defender of free movement through the world's international skies and waters. And it is not a duty we are willing to duck.
The brazen audacity of some demands can almost take on a kind of a comic grandeur. At first glimpse, the preposterous suggestion that the United States is somehow indebted to the Communist Chinese Government for the costs associated with downing our plane and detaining our aircrew appears to fall into that camp. And for that reason, we are tempted to dismiss the Communist Chinese Government's demand for compensation as the deluded daydreams of a despotic regime.
But as illogical and unbelievable as it may sound, today Communist leaders in Beijing are soberly demanding that the people of the United States pay them $1 million in compensation. The idea that American taxpayers should start rewarding Communist piracy is as contemptible as it is unlikely to happen. This Congress will never allow a single dollar to be used to compensate the perpetrators of an international aggression.
This is simply the latest example of the reckless, ruthless, and irrational mindset of China's Communist government. President Bush is standing firm for freedom. We need to support the administration by staking out a very clear position because, if history has taught us anything, it teaches that appeasement is nothing more than a downpayment on further trials and added hardships. To export our American values, we must always be prepared to defend our interests.
We must remain engaged with China. We owe it to the billion Chinese people who are victimized by an oppressive and abusive Communist government. We know that once the Chinese people begin to sense the opportunities and blessings of self-government they will soon shake off the shackles of communism. We look forward to that day.
But until the Chinese people are liberated to determine their own destiny, we must stand firm in defense of our commitment to freedom. This amendment does just that. It will send a clear signal to the Communist rulers in China: If you thought intimidation would persuade the United States to abdicate the defense of freedom, it failed.
We support open ties with all peoples, especially Chinese families struggling beneath communism. We seek the free exchange of goods, services and democratic ideals with men and women around the world. We wish to cultivate stronger ties between the Chinese people and the United States. But Jiang Zemin and his circle of apparatchiks will never deter America from flying patrols to the frontier of freedom.
Mr. Chairman, I ask support for this amendment.
(end text of speech)
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