mr. speaker , i want to thank my friend , the gentleman from florida ( mr. putnam ) xz4003280 , for yielding me the customary 30 minutes , and i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , yesterday , the house decided that this time it would not accept the practice of approving bills that materialize out of nowhere . 
this time , the house decided it wanted a real debate on china 's unfair trade practices and how best to remedy them . 
so the house did not approve the two-thirds majority needed for passage under suspension of h.r. 3283 , a bill that has never gone before committee , never had a hearing , never had the benefit of expert testimony , never had a markup , and has never been open to amendment . 
instead , this house demanded that the bill be taken up under regular procedure . 
that is why we are here today . 
but even under regular order , the republican majority has done all it can to stifle debate . 
last night the republican majority on the rules committee reported out a closed rule for h.r. 3283 , a closed rule that only allows for 1 hour of debate and no amendments ; well , except for the one amendment offered by the back room author of this bill in the first place , the gentleman from california ( mr. thomas ) xz4004010 , the distinguished chairman of the committee on ways and means . 
last night the committee on rules heard testimony on three amendments that would seriously address some of the major challenges facing u.s. trade with china and other nonmarket economy nations . 
first , there was the amendment modeled on the bipartisan bill originally introduced by the gentleman from ohio ( mr. ryan ) xz4003522 , the gentleman from california ( mr. hunter ) xz4001910 and the gentleman from alabama ( mr. davis ) xz4000922 . 
this amendment might actually provide needed remedies to tackling china 's currency manipulation . 
then there was a amendment offered by the distinguished ranking member of the committee on ways and means , the gentleman from new york ( mr. rangel ) xz4003330 , a comprehensive amendment that addresses the real problems facing america in its trade with china , currency manipulation , export surges , barriers to u.s. export of goods and services , and the right of american private sector companies and workers to challenge china 's agricultural and manufacturing subsidies . 
finally , there was an amendment offered by the gentleman from maryland ( mr. cardin ) xz4000640 which would have shut down the loopholes in the countervailing duties in the thomas bill . 
each of these concrete proposals presented to the committee on rules last night deserve debate , and would significantly enhance the underlying do-nothing legislation . 
but the republican leadership shut them out and shut down debate . 
sadly , mr. speaker , the committee on rules has become a place where democracy comes to die . 
heaven forbid that this house might take up amendments that actually address the real issue surrounding china 's unfair trade practices and provide genuine remedies . 
heaven forbid that this house might actually have a real debate on these matters , and heaven forbid that the republican majority might actually allow votes on these serious unfair trade practices . 
what is the majority afraid of , a straight up-or-down vote ? 
mr. speaker , i have sat in this chamber and heard over and over members on the other side of the aisle give 1-minute speeches demanding that the senate have up-or-down votes on judicial nominations . 
well , mr. speaker , if up-or-down votes are good for the senate , why are they not good for the house of representatives ? 
this house has had enough time this week to provide 40 minutes of debate each to the naming of half a dozen post offices , but we do not have enough time or interest to give the ryan-hunter-davis amendment 10 or 15 minutes , or the courtesy to give the ranking member of the committee on ways and means 10 or 15 minutes to offer a substitute amendment ? 
the chinese government must be laughing with glee at the republican leadership 's blatant abuse of power in their lock-step rejection of democratic debate . 
instead , we are forced to settle for the thomas bill , a bill that fails to offer solutions and fails to take action . 
instead , it calls for more reports , more studies and more dialogue . 
in fact , when the thomas bill does take action , it actually opens up more loopholes for china to exploit , more ways for china to hide its subsidies , and more opportunities for china to manipulate and falsify its trade and economic data . 
mr. speaker , standing up for american businesses and workers against america 's unfair trade practices should be one of our top trade priorities . 
the growth of china 's economy and its trade with the rest of the world is one of the most significant developments of the 21st century , and the bush administration and the republican leadership of this house have no effective policy for dealing with it . 
last year the u.s. trade gap with china was $ 162 billion . 
this year it is expected to climb to $ 225 billion . 
and china continues to engage in unfair trade practices , with billions lost to chinese piracy of u.s. intellectual property , chinese subsidies for its manufacturers , and chinese currency manipulation harming u.s. exports . 
i urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and let this house debate the thoughtful , meaningful amendments that have been offered . 
that is how democracy is supposed to work . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
