[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 124 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 124

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Olympic Summer Games in the 
 year 2000 should not be held in Beijing or elsewhere in the People's 
                           Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 1993

    Mr. Bradley (for himself and Mr. Leahy) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
                           and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Olympic Summer Games in the 
 year 2000 should not be held in Beijing or elsewhere in the People's 
                           Republic of China.

Whereas opponents of the human rights policies of the People's Republic of China 
        should use a variety of vehicles, including international organizations, 
        international regimes, and international events to express concern about 
        China's human rights practices;
Whereas the International Olympic Committee is currently considering possible 
        venues for the Olympic Summer Games in the year 2000, and the 
        governments of the city of Beijing and of the People's Republic of China 
        have submitted a proposal to the International Olympic Committee that 
        such Olympic Games be held in Beijing;
Whereas the State Department publication entitled ``Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices for 1992'' states that--

    (1) the government of China's ``human rights practices have remained 
repressive, falling far short of internationally accepted norms'';

    (2) ``torture and degrading treatment of detained and imprisoned 
persons'' persists today in China;

    (3) ``conditions in all types of Chinese penal institutions are harsh 
and frequently degrading''; and

    (4) the government of China ``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 consistently 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'' in China;
Whereas the government of China has failed to accede to the International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has questioned the 
        universality of human rights;
Whereas the government of China uses torture, forced labor, and physical 
        isolation to punish political prisoners;
Whereas Chinese authorities have prohibited the establishment of independent 
        Chinese organizations that monitor or comment on human rights conditions 
        in China, refused requests by international human rights delegations to 
        meet with political prisoners and former detainees, and expelled foreign 
        visitors indicating an interest in monitoring human rights conditions in 
        China;
Whereas the government of China has engaged in transfers of population in order 
        to marginalize the Tibetans inside Tibet and is engaged in the 
        systematic suppression of the Tibetan people, their culture, and their 
        religion;
Whereas, in recent years, the government of China has imposed tighter control 
        over religious practices and has engaged in greater repression of 
        religion in China;
Whereas, due to the policies of the government of China, Chinese workers are 
        denied the right to organize independent trade unions and to bargain 
        collectively, and products manufactured in China through the use of 
        forced labor have been exported to the United States;
Whereas the government of China is engaged in ongoing pervasive human rights 
        abuses of women and children, including the use of forced abortions and 
        involuntary sterilizations, in its enforcement of China's one child per 
        couple policy;
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 armed 
        troops into the city;
Whereas Chen Xitong, currently the Chairman of the Beijing 2000 Olympic Bid 
        Committee, has assured the International Olympic Committee in China's 
        formal application that ``neither now, nor in the future, will there 
        emerge in Beijing organizations opposing Beijing's bid'' to host the 
        Olympic Games, 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 shifts the focus of the Olympic Games away from the high ideals 
        behind the Olympic tradition and is counterproductive to the Olympic 
        movement: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (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 a 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 Secretary of the Senate 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.

                                 <all>