On Tuesday of last week, the Senate voted 85-15 to approve China's permanent low-tariff access to U.S. markets (PNTR). With the House having already approved the measure, the way is now clear for China to become a member of the World Trade Organization. Among the "highlights" of the week-long debate in the world's greatest deliberative body were the suggestion made by the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, that opposition to PNTR was part and parcel of America's long-lived "racial antagonism" toward all things Chinese and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm's bold prediction that once the folks of China "know the joy of wearing cotton underwear made out of Texas and American cotton," there will be no holding back their demands for political and religious freedom.
Nevertheless, and despite the lopsided outcome, the debate was not a total loss. In the face of Beijing's continuing insistence that Taiwan be allowed to join the WTO only as a territory of the mainland, Jon Kyl's threat to offer an amendment to the bill to guarantee Taiwan's admission as a separate entity pried from President Clinton a pledge not to cave in to Beijing's demands and a reaffirmation that it is U.S. policy to insist China and Taiwan become members at the same time.
So a tip of the hat to Sen. Kyl, and thank goodness this didn't require a floor vote and debate. There's only so much silliness we can record on these two pages.