[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 601 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
H. RES. 601

   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that without 
 improvement in human rights the Olympic Games in the year 2008 should 
       not be held in Beijing in the People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2000

 Mr. Lantos (for himself, Mr. Cox, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, 
Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Porter of Illinois, and Mr. Rohrabacher) submitted the 
     following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that without 
 improvement in human rights the Olympic Games in the year 2008 should 
       not be held in Beijing in the People's Republic of China.

Whereas the International Olympic Committee is now in the process of determining 
        the venue of the Olympic Games in the year 2008 and is scheduled to make 
        that decision at the IOC meeting scheduled for Moscow in July 2001;
Whereas the city of Beijing has made a proposal to the International Olympic 
        Committee that the summer Olympic Games in the year 2008 be held in 
        Beijing;
Whereas the Olympic Charter states that ``Olympism'' and the Olympic ideal seek 
        to foster ``respect for universal fundamental ethical principles'';
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly; in resolution 48/11 adopted on 
        October 25, 1993, recognized ``that the Olympic goal of the Olympic 
        Movement is to build a peaceful and better world by educating the youth 
        of the world through sport, practiced without discrimination of any kind 
        and the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding, promoted by 
        friendship, solidarity and fair play'';
Whereas United National General Assembly in resolution 50/13 of November 7, 
        1995, stressed ``the importance of the principles of the Olympic 
        charter, according to which any form of discrimination with regard to a 
        country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, sex or 
        otherwise is incompatible with the Olympic Movement'';
Whereas the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        1999 reports that:

    (1) ``The [Chinese] government continued to commit widespread and well-
documented human rights abuses, in violation of internationally accepted 
norms.''

    (2) ``Abuses included instances of extra judicial killings, torture and 
mistreatment of prisoners, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and 
detention, lengthy incommunicado detention, and denial of due process.''

    (3) ``The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights.''

    (4) ``The Government tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and of 
the press, and increased controls on the Internet; selfcensorship by 
journalists also increased.''

    (5) ``The Government severely restricted freedom of assembly and 
continued to restrict freedom of association.''

    (6) ``The Government continued to restrict freedom of religion and 
intensified controls on some unregistered churches.''

    (7) ``The Government continued to restrict freedom of movement.''

    (8) ``The Government does not permit independent domestic 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to monitor publicly human rights 
conditions.''

    (9) ``Violence against women, including coercive family planning 
practices--which sometimes include forced abortion and forced 
sterilization; prostitution; discrimination against women; trafficking in 
women and children; abuse of children; and discrimination against the 
disabled and minorities are all problems.''

    (10) ``The Government continued to restrict tightly worker rights, and 
forced labor in prison facilities remains a serious problem. Child labor 
persists.''

    (11) ``Particularly serious human rights abuses persisted in some 
minority area, especially in Tibet and Xingjiang, where restrictions on 
religion and other fundamental freedoms intensified.'';

Whereas, according to press reports, Liu Qi, the Mayor of Beijing, told a rally 
        called to promote Beijing's bid to host the Olympic Games that the 
        government would ``resolutely smash and crack down on Falun Gong and 
        other evil cults'' in preparation for hosting the games;
Whereas the egregious human rights abuses committed by the Government of China 
        are inconsistent with the Olympic ideal; and
Whereas on July 26, 1993, the House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 
        188 in the 103rd Congress which expressed 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 of China: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) welcomes the participation of Chinese athletes in the 
        Olympic Games, notes the outstanding competitive effort of 
        Chinese athletes in the games in Sydney, Australia, where 
        Chinese athletes placed third in the number of medals earned, 
        and in Atlanta, Georgia, and Barcelona, Spain, where Chinese 
        athletes also placed third in the number of medals earned, and 
        wholeheartedly welcomes the support of the Chinese people for 
        the Olympic Games;
            (2) acknowledges that the Chinese people and thousands of 
        Chinese Olympic athletes have shown their strong support for 
        the Olympic spirit through their commitment to excellence, 
        energy, skill, sportsmanship, and good will towards their 
        fellow athletes;
            (3) expresses the sense of the House of Representatives 
        that the Olympic Games in the year 2008 should not be held in 
        Beijing in the People's Republic of China because the 
        deplorable human rights record of the People's Republic of 
        China violates international human rights standards which that 
        Government has pledged to uphold and its actions are 
        inconsistent with the Olympic ideal;
            (4) expresses the view that the House looks forward to the 
        day when the House can support a proposal of the People's 
        Republic of China to host the Olympic Games at a time when the 
        Chinese people openly enjoy the tolerance and freedoms espoused 
        by the high ideals of the Olympic tradition; and
            (5) 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.
                                 <all>