Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 104 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 104 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 142 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1996 No. 90 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was HEALTH INSURANCE agreement. I wanted to report on that called to order by the Speaker. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. to my colleagues. f STEARNS). Under the Speaker's an- f MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE nounced policy of May 12, 1995, the gen- THE RATIONALE FOR VOTING FOR A message from the Senate by Mr. tleman from Georgia [Mr. GINGRICH] is recognized during morning business for DENIAL OF MFN TRADE STATUS Lundregan, one of its clerks, an- FOR CHINA nounced that the Senate insists upon 1 minute. its amendments to the bill (H.R. 2977) Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, I just The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a ``An Act to reauthorize alternative wanted to report to my colleagues that previous order of the House, the gentle- means of dispute resolution in the Fed- we have a real opportunity in the next woman from California [Ms. PELOSI] is eral administrative process, and for day or so to reach an agreement with recognized for 5 minutes. other purposes,'' requests a conference the Clinton administration on guaran- Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, on June 3 with the House on the disagreeing teed portability of health care, of President Clinton requested a special votes of the two Houses thereon, and health insurance with no pre- waiver to grant most-favored-nation appoints Mr. STEVENS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. conditions. We are working very dili- trade status for China. Since the GRASSLEY, Mr. GLENN, and Mr. LEVIN, gently in exactly the way we believe Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, I to be the conferees on the part of the the House wants us to, to make sure have worked with my colleagues to Senate. that every working American who is in provide alternatives to denial of most- The message also announced that the the insurance system will have a guar- favored-nation status, including condi- Senate agrees to the amendment of the antee that if they change jobs, they tional renewal or targeting revocation. House to the bill of the Senate of the can automatically get insurance with- However, this year I will be voting to following title: out any preconditions for the rest of deny MFN to China and to deny the S. 1136. An act to control and prevent com- their life, so it will eliminate the President's special request, because of mercial counterfeiting, and for other pur- major concern of working Americans. the increased violations of our bilat- poses. In addition, Mr. Speaker, we have a eral trade agreements, because of the The message also announced that the program which will extend a lower cost increased repression in China and Senate had passed bills of the following health care option, health insurance Tibet, and because of China's prolifera- titles, in which the concurrence of the option, to the self-employed and small tion of weapons, chemical, nuclear, and House is requested: businesses. Most of the people who do advanced missile technology, to S. 1488. An act to convert certain excepted not have health insurance, who are unsafeguarded countries including service positions in the United States Fire working, are either self-employed or Pakistan and Iran. Administration to competitive service posi- work in small businesses. So if we can Mr. Speaker, while I know there is tions, and for other purposes; and find a solution to a lower cost health not a large enough vote in the Congress S. 1579. An act to streamline and improve insurance option, we give more Ameri- to override a Presidential veto, and the the effectiveness of chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code (commonly referred to as cans the ability to buy health insur- President would veto a motion to deny the ``Single Audit Act''). ance at lower cost. So we have both MFN, I do believe that a vote to sup- f greater access and greater afford- port the status quo in United States- ability. We give greater affordability China relations is difficult to defend MORNING BUSINESS through medical savings accounts, for several reasons. The SPEAKER. Pursuant to the which lower the after-tax cost of buy- In the area of trade, China does not order of the House of May 12, 1995, the ing insurance, and we get greater ac- play by the rules. Despite the fact that Chair will now recognize Members from cess by providing portability without over one-third of China's exports come lists submitted by the majority and any preconditions. into the United States and are sold in minority leaders for morning hour de- I hope we are on the verge of a real the United States markets, Chinese bates. The Chair will alternate recogni- breakthrough to get this agreed to. We high-tariff and nontariff barriers limit tion between the parties, with each have already gone to conference. The access to the Chinese market for Unit- party limited to not to exceed 30 min- Senate Republicans are prepared to go ed States goods and services and hold utes, and each Member except the ma- to conference immediately, if we can our exports to only 2 percent of our ex- jority and minority leaders limited to simply get an agreement, and we are ports into ChinaÐa third of China's ex- not to exceed 5 minutes. working very diligently to get this ports allowed into the United States, b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H6425 H6426 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE June 18, 1996 only 2 percent of ours allowed into technology, misappropriates it, the many reform proposals which address China. companies have little choice, because the most serious risks presented by On a strictly trade-by-trade basis, they want to access the market. We are contaminants in drinking water. The China does not reciprocate the trade helping the Chinese Government build proposed amendments to the Safe benefits we grant to them under MFN our own competitors, using our state- Drinking Water Act will provide for an status. The result is a $34 billion Unit- of-the-art technology. Time does not estrogenic substances screening pro- ed States trade deficit with China in permit me to go further, but more will gram. Under this program, substances 1995. As we can see from this chart, come. will be measured to determine if they only 10 years ago we were reasonably f produce effects in humans similar to in balance with a $10 million trade defi- those produced by naturally occurring cit with China, and over the past 10 ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS AND estrogens. years the trade deficit has increased to THEIR LINKS TO BREAST CANCER In 1971, Congress passed the National just about $34 billion. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cancer Act, increasing resources for Mr. Speaker, supporters of MFN will WELLER). Under the Speaker's an- cancer research and broadening the say that U.S. exports have tripled in nounced policy of May 12, 1995, the gen- mandate of the National Cancer Insti- the course of that time. They have, but tleman from Florida [Mr. STEARNS] is tute, a subsidiary of the National Insti- Chinese exports to the United States recognized during morning business for tutes of Health. The infusion of funds have increased elevenfold, therefore re- 5 minutes. following this act led to the genetic sulting in this very extreme imbalance. Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, sadly, I revolution in cancer and biomedicine The deficit is expected to exceed $41 am not surprised by an article in last in general. Continued funding for the billion in 1996, and does not include the Friday's Washington Post regarding NIH represents an investment in re- economic loss of Chinese piracy of our yet another environmental health risk. search as well as in investment to im- intellectual property, which costs the The article discusses a new scientific prove the Nation's health. United States economy over $2.5 billion study showing major health risk posed To protect the rights of those with each year. It does not include the loss by chemicals commonly found in our identifiable disease characteristics like to our economy on Chinese insistence environment. Despite even the best of breast cancer in their genetic makeup, on offsets, production and technology intentions, a number of unnerving I have introduced H.R. 2690, the Ge- transfer, which hurt American workers health trends are being linked with in- netic Privacy Act. This legislation will and rob our economic future, and it creased human contamination by ensure that the new discoveries made does not include money gained by chemical hormones. in genetic testing research are not mis- China in the illegal smuggling of AK± The chemicals responsible for caus- used. For example, in the past 2 years, 47s and other weapons into the United ing endocrine system dysfunctions BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 were identified as States by the Chinese military. have been used in common pesticides major breast cancer genes. Together Members will hear that trade with and industrial chemicals for decades. they account for perhaps 90 percent of China is important for United States Known as environmental estrogens, familial breast cancer. jobs. When President Clinton made his these chemicals can actually mimic While this finding indeed benefits statement accompanying his request to the hormone estrogen that naturally women, enabling them to take nec- renew MFN, he claimed new exports to occurs in the human body.