Lawmakers Report on Tax-funded Trip to China

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Fresh from China, Utah lawmakers are going to great lengths to emphasize the productive nature of their 36-thousand dollar taxpayer-funded trip.

"Beginning at 7 in the morning we wouldn't return until 9 or 10 o'clock at night," says Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble. "Now from the point of view of recreational opportunities, we saw the Great Wall, but well over 90 percent of the time was spent directly in meetings with government officials."

Bramble says it was very important to their hosts in the Liaoning Province that he and other high-ranking members of the Utah Legislature participated in the 13-member delegation. Bramble says the week's worth of meetings with Chinese government officials opened "lines of communication" and cultural understanding.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich says regulators in the coal-rich Chinese province were particularly interested in Utah's mining expertise.

"They have wildcat miners that just go out and bust into a mountain and start mining coal because of the high price of coal," says Dmitrich. "So they have a lot of accidents and were very interested in how we handle safety and methane gas."

Dmitrich, who represents Carbon County, says Chinese officials were also eager for information about clean-coal burning technologies being developed in the U.S. Participating lawmakers say their personal relationship with the Liaoning Province government should enable future cultural and economic exchanges.

Within 30 days, Bramble says the delegation will submit a full, written report of their visit to Legislative Management.

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