Hearing on Research and Development, Technological Advances in Key Industries, and Changing Trade Flows with China
Opening Statement of Vice Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew
July 16, 2008
Washington, DC
Good morning and thank you Chairman Wortzel.
Welcome to our panelists, to the members of Congress who will be joining us, and to the public and to their representatives in the press corps. I’d like to invite all of you to also visit our website, uscc.gov, where you will find many useful things, including our 2007 annual report and its conclusions and recommendations. It was published last November, and was adopted unanimously by the twelve Commissioners.
The transcript of today’s hearing will be published on our website; today’s written testimony will be posted on the website as well. And come November 20, our 2008 annual report will appear on the website and in the form of a bound, paper copy. Today’s hearing will provide a wealth of information for that annual effort.
Let me give you a few details about our schedule today. Several members of Congress have been invited to speak. Two of our distinguished members will be appearing for the first panel, Representatives Walter Jones, of North Carolina, and Michael H. Michaud, of Maine. This afternoon, Senator Debbie Stabenow, of Michigan, will appear. As is our practice for members of Congress, we will suspend temporarily our regular panel to allow Senator Stabenow to speak. We anticipate hearing from the Senator at 3:15 pm.
For those of you who will be with us the entire day, I’ll note that we will break for lunch at 1:00 pm and will resume promptly at 1:45 pm. There is a snack bar and carry-out in the basement of the Russell Senate Office building, which is called, “Cups and Company.” There is also a cafeteria in the basement of the Dirksen building but that requires a congressional ID when Congress is in session. That is connected to the Russell building by a long hallway.
Today’s hearing is the seventh we have held this year. The final hearing will be on Wednesday, August the 13th. The topic is China's “Energy Policies and Environmental Impacts”
With that, let me introduce Commission Michael Wessel, who is one of the co-chairman of the hearing.