Honorable Tom Daschle
Member, Subcommittee on International Trade
Senate Finance Committee
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Daschle:

On behalf of our 65,000 members nationwide, I am strongly urging you to revoke PNTR (Permanent Normal Trading Relations) with communist China. Red China's recent violent actions toward our EP-3 surveillance plan and its unjustified detention of 24 American military personnel are another clear indication of China's belligerent intentions against our country's national interests. China must not go unpunished.

Let the attached crushed fortune cookies serve as a reminder of the anger of many Americans who are not fooled by China's two-faced policies and who have already begun boycotting China by refusing to purchase cheap, unsafe, “Made in China” products at major U.S. retailers.

Let us also remind you of China's abysmal human rights record, which has gotten worse in the last few months with the illegal detentions of Chinese-American scholars and dissident Christians. According to Human Rights Watch, China still maintains over 3,000 slave labor camps with over 8 million workers. It is their labor, under horrid conditions, that produce products that flood our stores and contribute to our current $86 billion trade deficit with them. In addition, China's military buildup continues at a rapid pace and threatens not only our national security, but also the peace and stability of Taiwan and all of Asia.

In light of all these troubling developments, do you honestly believe China is deserving of PNTR? CIC believes Congress and the Bush Administration must send a tough message to Beijing that is coupled with real punitive action. I hope you take our concerns to heart, and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

SCOTT LAUF
Executive Officer