{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-barrasso-introduce-bill-to-end-chinas-unfair-advantage", "Sullivan, Barrasso Introduce Bill to End China\u2019s Unfair Advantage", "2022-09-30", "2022", "2022-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Dan Sullivan", "S001198", "www.sullivan.senate.gov", "sullivan", "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases?PageNum_rs=28", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have introduced legislation, the Ending China\u2019s Unfair Advantage Act, to end American taxpayer handouts to China. The Ending China\u2019s Unfair Advantage Act prohibits U.S. funding going to the Montreal Protocol, a United Nations (UN) treaty, until China is no longer treated as a developing country. Currently, China is defined as a developing nation under the Montreal Protocol. This allows China to abide by a different set of rules and access funding\u2014including American taxpayer dollars\u2014from the multilateral fund.\n\n\u201cChina is the second largest economy in the world. China is one of the most industrialized countries in the world. China has one of the biggest militaries in the world. The World Bank now even considers China to be an \u2018upper middle income\u2019 country. The idea that China is a \u2018developing country\u2019 is ridiculous,\u201d said Sen. Sullivan. \u201cWe cannot continue to allow China to exploit this status under international organizations and treaties to syphon off funds\u2014much of it coming from U.S. taxpayers\u2014intended for truly needy countries. The Senate is united in this regard, and I\u2019m glad to put forward legislation with Senator Barrasso to end this charade once and for all.\u201d\n\n\u201cChina is the second largest economy in the world \u2013 a far cry from a developing country. There is no reason why China should get to play by a different set of rules, let alone get a handout paid for by American taxpayers,\u201d said Barrasso. \u201cThe United States Senate recently voted unanimously in agreement that China should not be defined as a developing country. Our bill forces the United Nations to do the right thing and end this unfair advantage for China.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nUnder the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, developing countries are eligible for financial assistance through a special multilateral fund. The U.S. is the largest contributor to the fund, giving nearly $1 billion.\n\nChina has received nearly $1.4 billion from this multilateral fund over the years, due to its status as a \u201cdeveloping\u201d country under the Montreal Protocol.\n\nThe U.S. is required to phase down production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, by 85 percent by 2036 and China has until 2045 to reduce HFC use by 80 percent. China is given an extra decade, under the Kigali Amendment, to produce HFCs. It is also allowed an extra 5 percent in HFC production and consumption.\n\nEarlier this month, Senators Sullivan, Barrasso and Lee introduced amendments that would have conditioned Senate approval of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on the removal of China being defined as a developing country.\n\nOn September 21, 2022, the Senate passed Senator Sullivan\u2019s amendment by a vote of 96-0. It declared that China is not a developing country and the UN and other intergovernmental organizations should not treat China as such. It also conditioned the Senate\u2019s ratification on the administration submitting a proposal to remove China as a developing country before the meeting next year of the parties to the Montreal Protocol.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-barrasso-introduce-bill-to-end-chinas-unfair-advantage"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6464580073952675, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}