Take action, English urges Bush

Blocking China's efforts to be host of the Olympics and selling weapons to Taiwan would be two ways to take a stand, the legislator said.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, R-21st, said President Bush should insist that the Chinese release the American spy plane they are holding.
"The Chinese government has behaved deplorably to date," the congressman said during a town meeting Thursday at the Penn State Shenango Campus. About 40 students, instructors and staff members attended the session.
The United States needs to be aggressive about the return of the aircraft and about getting an apology from the Chinese after a clearly aggressive policy adopted by the Chinese involving aircraft in international air space, English said.
He was referring to the recent midair collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. spy plane above the South China Sea in which the Chinese pilot struck the U.S. plane with his aircraft and was killed.
English's suggestions: The United States should challenge China's efforts to be host for the 2008 Olympics, for starters, English said.
It should also move ahead with the sale of modern defensive weapons to Taiwan even though Taiwan isn't officially recognized as an independent country by the United States, English said. China opposes that sale.
There should also be a reassessment of the U.S. policy of widely granting visas to Chinese students who want to study in this country, he said.
Finally, the United States needs to rethink its trade relations with China, he said.
English said he has supported normal trade relations with China in the past, but that the Chinese have recently been dumping flat glass, steel, coke and specialty metal work on the U.S. market, but have failed to open their own markets to U.S. goods as promised.
Topic of Pell grants: In more education-related matters, English said he supports increasing the size of federal Pell grants to college students, calling it "one of the most cost-effective things we can do to aid education."
He said he also favors Bush's plans to remove the taxes from educational savings programs such as education IRAs and pre-paid tuition plans.
English has also introduced legislation to extend the time that students can deduct interest on their student loans from their taxes. The limit is 60 months, but English said the deduction should last for the life of the loan. That's an issue that should get passed this year, he said.