[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 188 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 188

To express the sense of the House of Representatives that the Olympics 
  in the year 2000 should not be held in Beijing or elsewhere in the 
                      People's Republic in China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 27, 1993

   Mr. Lantos (for himself, Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Gilman, Ms. 
Pelosi, Mr. Porter, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Lewis of 
Georgia, and Mr. Torres) submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
To express the sense of the House of Representatives that the Olympics 
  in the year 2000 should not be held in Beijing or elsewhere in the 
                      People's Republic in China.

Whereas the International Olympic Committee is now in the process of determining 
        the venue of the Olympic Games in the year 2000;
Whereas the governments of the city of Beijing and of the People's Republic of 
        China have made a proposal to the International Olympic Committee that 
        the Summer Olympic Games in the year 2000 be held in Beijing;
Whereas the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        1992 specifies that the Chinese ``government's human rights practices 
        have remained repressive, falling far short of internationally accepted 
        norms,'' ``torture and degrading treatment of detained and imprisoned 
        persons persisted,'' ``conditions in all types of Chinese penal 
        institutions are harsh and frequently degrading,'' and the Chinese 
        ``government still has not satisfactorily accounted for the thousands of 
        persons throughout the country who were arrested or held in `detention 
        during the investigation' or `administrative detention' status for 
        activities related to the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations'';
Whereas the Government of China has failed to respect civil liberties and, 
        according to the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices for 1992, ``freedom of speech and self-expression remain 
        severely restricted'';
Whereas the Government of China has engaged in massive transfers of population 
        in order to marginalize the Tibetans inside Tibet and has engaged in 
        systematic suppression of the Tibetan people, their culture and 
        religion;
Whereas the Government of China has imposed tighter control over religious 
        practice and engaged in greater repression of religion;
Whereas the Government of China does not permit the establishment of independent 
        Chinese organizations that publicly monitor or comment on human rights 
        conditions in China, and Chinese authorities have refused requests by 
        international human rights delegations to meet with political prisoners 
        and former detainees and have expelled foreign visitors who have 
        indicated an interest in monitoring human rights conditions;
Whereas workers in China are denied the right to organize independent trade 
        unions and to bargain collectively, and products manufactured by forced 
        labor have been exported to the United States;
Whereas, in the spring of 1989, then mayor of Beijing, Chen Xitong, called for a 
        crackdown on the pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, and on 
        May 20, 1989, signed a martial law decree authorizing the entry of 
        troops into the city;
Whereas Chen Xitong is currently chairman of the Beijing 2000 Olympic Bid 
        Committee, and Mr. Chen has assured the International Olympic Committee 
        in China's formal application that ``neither now, or in the future, will 
        there emerge in Beijing organizations opposing Beijing's bid'' to host 
        the Olympics, thus boasting of the Chinese regime's determination to 
        crush dissent; and
Whereas holding the Olympic games in countries, such as the People's Republic of 
        China, which engage in massive violations of human rights serves to 
        shift the focus from the high ideals behind the Olympic tradition and is 
        counterproductive for the Olympic movement: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly opposes the holding of the Olympic Summer 
        Games in the year 2000 in the city of Beijing or elsewhere in 
        the People's Republic of China and urges the International 
        Olympic Committee to find another, more suitable venue for the 
        Games;
            (2) urges the United States Representative to the 
        International Olympic Committee to vote against holding the 
        Olympic Summer Games in the year 2000 in the city of Beijing or 
        elsewhere in the People's Republic of China; and
            (3) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to 
        transmit a copy of this resolution to the Chairman of the 
        International Olympic Committee and to the United States 
        representative to the International Olympic Committee with the 
        request that it be circulated to all members of the Committee.

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