13 September 2000 PNTR Supporters Defeat Proliferation, Human Rights Amendments by Steve La Rocque Washington File Staff Writer Senate supporters of H.R. 4444, the bill that would grant China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, won an important victory September 13. The Senate voted 65-32 to table Amendment No. 4132, offered by Senators Fred Thompson (Republican of Tennessee) and Robert Torricelli (Democrat of New Jersey), which would have tied the issue of China's role in weapons proliferation with the legislation that grants China PNTR status. A Senator may move to table any pending question, or motion to consider a bill. The motion is not debatable, and agreement to the motion is equivalent to defeating the tabled bill. The motion to table is used to dispose of quickly questions the Senate does not wish to consider further. While even the strongest backers of H.R. 4444 acknowledged that China's role in weapons proliferation is a serious issue that must be dealt with, the desire to pass H.R. 4444 without amendments won out in the end. Supporters of PNTR for China have argued that any amendment to H.R. 4444 this late in the session would effectively prevent passage of the bill in the 106th Congress. Although opponents of PNTR may still seek to push back the time for a final vote on H.R. 4444, the defeat of Amendment No. 4132 removes what was viewed as the best means of attaching an amendment to the bill and thus sending it into a conference committee with representatives from both the House and the Senate. A conference committee is a temporary, ad hoc panel composed of representatives from the House and Senate formed for the purpose of reconciling the differences in a piece of legislation that has passed both chambers. If the panel comes to agreement on the language in the legislation, it issues a conference report that is subsequently submitted to each chamber for its approval or disapproval. The Senate is scheduled to adjourn October 6 in preparation for the November elections. Supporters of PNTR for China also defeated two other amendments September 13. Senator Robert Byrd's (Democrat of West Virginia) Amendment No. 4131 on safeguards against market disruptions failed by a 33-62 vote, and one part of Senator Robert Smith's (Republican of New Hampshire) Amendment No. 4129, which would require the Congressional-Executive Commission to "monitor the cooperation of the People's Republic of China with respect to POW/MIA issues, improvement in the areas of forced abortions, slave labor, and organ harvesting," lost 33-62. The Senate also defeated by voice vote September 12 Amendment 4117 offered by Senator Robert Byrd (Democrat of West Virginia). That amendment called for the United States Trade Representative to obtain a guarantee from China to disclose subsidy information to its industries as required by the World Trade Organization (WTO). An amendment offered by Senator Paul Wellstone (Democrat of Minnesota) relating to China's use of prison labor also failed in a roll call vote with 68 no votes against only 29 in favor. Amendment 4119 would have required the President to submit a report to Congress certifying that the People's Republic of China was "complying with the Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and the People's Republic of China on Prohibiting Import and Export Trade in Prison Labor Products, signed on August 7, 1992," and that the Beijing regime was also complying with "the Statement of Cooperation on the Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and the People's Republic of China on Prohibiting Import and Export Trade in Prison Labor Products, signed on March 14, 1994." The amendment also would have had the President certify that the communist regime was "fully cooperating with all outstanding requests made by the United States for visitation or investigation" of sites of prison labor including "facilities considered `reeducation through labor' facilities." In a similar vein, Senator Jesse Helms (Republican of North Carolina) put forth Amendment No. 4125, requiring Presidential certification that China had taken specific steps regarding human rights, religious freedom, and similar issues before granting that country PNTR. That amendment went down to defeat with only 32 "yes" votes against 63 "no" votes. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File