[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.
                                 <all>