[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1717 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1717
Congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the
award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 16, 2010
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Wu, Mr. Inglis, Mr. McCotter,
Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Wolf,
Mr. McGovern, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, and Mr. Towns)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the
award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Whereas Liu Xiaobo played a leading role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square
demonstration for democratic reform, insisting on peaceful means and
democratic process;
Whereas since 1989, Liu Xiaobo has been a leading figure promoting democratic
reform and respect for human rights, including by writing hundreds of
notable essays on these subjects;
Whereas between June 6, 1989, and October 1999, the Government of China detained
Liu Xiaobo 3 times, totaling over 4 years confinement for his role in
Tiananmen Square and continued promotion of political reform;
Whereas in 2008, Liu Xiaobo was one of the principal drafters and organizers as
well as one of the first signers of Charter 08, a manifesto that
proposed democratic reform in China;
Whereas, on December 8, 2008, the Government of China detained Liu Xiaobo for
his role in Charter 08, and found him guilty of ``inciting subversion of
state power'' in 2009 and sentenced him to 11 years imprisonment;
Whereas since December 2008, thousands of Chinese citizens from all walks of
life have signed Charter 08, and the Government of China has detained,
placed under house arrest, or harassed many of them;
Whereas in 2010, many persons from around the world nominated Liu Xiaobo for the
Nobel Peace Prize, including the 14th Dalai Lama, Bishop Desmond Tutu,
Vaclav Havel, and 7 members of the United States House of
Representatives;
Whereas, on October 8, 2010, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its award
of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo for his ``long and non-
violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China'';
Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that, ``the campaign to establish
universal human rights also in China is being waged by many Chinese . .
. through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the
foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in
China'';
Whereas when on October 9, 2010, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's wife, notified her
husband that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he responded by
dedicating the prize to ``the Tiananmen martyrs'';
Whereas the Government of China responded to the award by placing Liu Xia under
house arrest, harassing and detaining Liu Xiaobo's friends and
supporters, censoring Internet Web sites and blacking out television
broadcasts that reported the award, and defaming Liu Xiaobo by
describing him as a ``criminal'', a ``political tool of the West'', and
a ``traitorous operative'';
Whereas the Government of China has claimed that its imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo
is an internal matter and that the award constitutes meddling in China's
internal affairs; and
Whereas President Barack Obama, the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, has
congratulated Liu Xiaobo on the award and called on the Government of
China to release him from prison: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) congratulates Liu Xiaobo on the award of the 2010 Nobel
Peace Prize;
(2) honors Liu Xiaobo's promotion of democratic reform in
China, and the courage with which he has bore repeated
imprisonment by the Government of China;
(3) states that in honoring Liu Xiaobo, it also honors all
those who have promoted democratic reform in China, including
all those who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square
demonstration for democratic reform;
(4) asserts that Liu Xiaobo is a political prisoner, and
that Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's supporters, and all signers of
Charter 08 who have been detained, placed under house arrest,
or harassed, are the victims of political persecution;
(5) calls on the Government of China to release Liu Xiaobo
from prison, and to release Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's supporters,
and all signers of Charter 08 from detention, house arrest, and
harassment;
(6) calls on the Government of China to cease censoring
media and Internet reporting of the award of the Nobel Peace
Prize to Liu Xiaobo and to cease its campaign of defamation
against Liu Xiaobo;
(7) urges President Barack Obama to continue to work for
the release of Liu Xiaobo from prison, as well as the release
of Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's supporters, and all signers of Charter
08 from detention, house arrest, and harassment; and
(8) emphasizes that violations of human rights in general,
and the persecution of Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's
supporters, and all signers of Charter 08 specifically, are
matters of legitimate concern to other governments.
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