[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1650 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1650

    Calling on the Government of the People's Republic of China to 
immediately release Chen Guangcheng and his relatives from house arrest 
and to cease persecuting and harassing Chen Guangcheng, his relatives, 
                            and supporters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 22, 2010

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Pitts, and Mr. 
Fortenberry) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Calling on the Government of the People's Republic of China to 
immediately release Chen Guangcheng and his relatives from house arrest 
and to cease persecuting and harassing Chen Guangcheng, his relatives, 
                            and supporters.

Whereas Chen Guangcheng, a citizen of the People's Republic of China, overcame 
        great obstacles, including the loss of his sight due to a childhood 
        disease, to become a self-educated lawyer;
Whereas in 2005, Chen collected testimony and evidence on a one-child policy 
        enforcement campaign in Linyi county, Shandong province, which resulted 
        in 130,000 forced abortions and sterilizations, according to press 
        reports cited by the United States Department of State;
Whereas in 2005, Chen met with legal scholars and foreign journalists to discuss 
        filing a class-action lawsuit against those responsible for the one-
        child policy enforcement campaign in Linyi county and to publicize the 
        enforcement campaign;
Whereas in 2005, Chinese officials placed Chen under effective house arrest, 
        surrounding his house with police officials, not permitting him to leave 
        freely, and restricting others' access to his home and village;
Whereas in August 2006, Chinese officials convicted Chen of property destruction 
        and assembling a crowd to disrupt traffic and sentenced him to four 
        years, three months in prison;
Whereas Chinese officials announced Chen's trial date several days before the 
        trial, detained the lawyers he had selected to represent him, and 
        refused to permit them to enter the courtroom;
Whereas Chen was beaten by his fellow prisoners, prevented from communicating 
        with his family, and suffered chronic and serious illness while in 
        prison;
Whereas since 2005, Chen's wife, Yuan Weijing, has been placed under varying 
        degrees of house arrest, surveillance, and visitors to their house have 
        been beaten and harassed, and their children prevented from enrolling in 
        school;
Whereas, on September 9, 2010, the date Chen's sentence expired, Chinese 
        officials transported Chen from prison to his house, which officials 
        have surrounded with police and surveillance cameras;
Whereas Chen has called on ``international organizations and people of 
        conscience'' to react to his continued house arrest ``in a united manner 
        . . . If they can help me today, their actions will help another person 
        tomorrow'';
Whereas in 2006, Chen was included in Time magazine's list of ``2006's Top 100 
        People Who Shape Our World'' in the category of ``Heroes and Pioneers'', 
        and in 2007, Chen was recognized with the Ramon Magsaysay Award, which 
        cited, ``his irrepressible passion for justice in leading ordinary 
        Chinese citizens to assert their legitimate rights under the law'';
Whereas the violence that Chen sought to document in 2005 is ongoing, and in 
        2010 there are reliable reports of large scale and violent abortion 
        enforcement campaigns in Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Zhejiang, and 
        Jiangxi provinces;
Whereas it is not known that the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        has ever punished an official for forcing a woman to undergo abortion or 
        sterilization; and
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China links officials' job 
        promotion with their ability to meet or exceed population planning 
        targets, evaluates officials by a system that rewards them for 
        overseeing compulsory abortions, and frequently urges officials to 
        ``rigorously'' enforce compulsory abortion on pregnant women who do not 
        have a birth permit: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to immediately release Chen Guangcheng and his relatives 
        from house arrest and to cease persecuting and harassing Chen 
        Guangcheng, his relatives, and supporters;
            (2) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to ensure that Chen Guangcheng has access to medical 
        treatment;
            (3) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to investigate the one-child policy enforcement campaign 
        held in 2005 in Linyi county, Shandong province, and to punish 
        those responsible for the massive human rights violations 
        perpetrated in connection with that campaign; and
            (4) condemns the birth limitation policy of the Government 
        of the People's Republic of China, particularly the enforcement 
        of birth limitations through policies that encourage officials 
        to physically force women to have abortions or to be sterilized 
        or both.
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