(WASHINGTON, D.C.)- Aimed at capitalizing on the large political TV audience on and around the "Super Tuesday" primaries, The Business Roundtable has launched a national advertising campaign to promote Permanent Normal Trading Relations (PNTR) status for China. The $1.5 million ad campaign is reaching markets in 22 states and the District of Columbia, extending into the districts of 106 members of Congress.

The ad marks the launch of the first wave of the multi-million dollar advertising campaign to promote PNTR for China. The 30-second ad calls on Congress to choose engagement with China over isolation as the way to change that nation by promptly passing PNTR legislation. The ad features dramatic images and text that demonstrate China's role as the world's largest emerging market with 1.3 billion people.

"Super Tuesday is certain to attract a large, politically informed audience, and PNTR for China is an issue that needs to be placed before the American public," said Samuel L. Maury, President of the BRT. "All four of the major candidates for president support PNTR for China, and now Congress has the unprecedented opportunity to make the world a safer place and bring worlds of new opportunities to American workers, farmers and businesses. If Congress fails to act on this opportunity, we'll be abandoning China's huge market to our foreign competitors instead, and that is unacceptable."

The ad also features a toll-free number (1-877-611-TRADE) that will be used to build grassroots support for passage of PNTR legislation. The effort will complement BRT's goTRADE organization, a national grassroots trade education campaign that has mobilized thousands of individuals and businesses across America to call on Congress to pass PNTR.

"This is the most important trade vote of this new millennium, and we're sending the message that Congress must pass PNTR legislation now," added Maury. "The Business Roundtable will continue to tell this story on the airwaves, on the ground, in congressional districts, through coalitions and any other channel at our disposal. China PNTR is a win-win for America. It creates opportunities in every business sector from citrus farming to cyberspace, soybeans to services, and will allow us to expose China to our democratic ideals and values."