[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5370 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5370
To state the policy of the United States with respect to international
religious freedom in the People's Republic of China, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 7, 2026
Mr. Budd (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To state the policy of the United States with respect to international
religious freedom in the People's Republic of China, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Combatting the Persecution of
Religious Groups in the People's Republic of China Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The People's Republic of China has been designated as a ``country
of particular concern for religious freedom'' under section
402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(ii)) since 1999 for engaging in particularly
severe violations of religious freedom (as defined in section 3 of such
Act (22 U.S.C. 6402)).
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) Holding Officials of the People's Republic of China Responsible
for International Religious Freedom Abuses.--For any official of the
Government of the People's Republic of China that the United States
Government determines is responsible for or has directly carried out
abuses of international religious freedom, including those involving
arbitrary detention, forced sterilization, torture, forced labor, and
serious restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, expression, and
movement involving ethnic and religious minority groups, including
Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong
practitioners, in the People's Republic of China or globally, it is the
policy of the United States to also determine whether such official has
committed a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights
for purposes of imposing sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
(b) Department of State Programming To Promote International
Religious Freedom in the People's Republic of China.--It is the policy
of the United States--
(1) that the relevant bureaus of the Department of State
should support efforts to promote international religious
freedom in the People's Republic of China; and
(2) for programs of the Department of State to promote
international religious freedom in the People's Republic of
China and monitor transnational repression of ethnic and
religious minority groups by the Government of the People's
Republic of China.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PROMOTION OF INTERNATIONAL
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should promote
international religious freedom in the People's Republic of China by--
(1) strengthening diplomacy relating to religious freedom
on behalf of ethnic and religious minority groups, including
through the widespread engagement of international partners to
combat abuses of religious freedom committed by the Government
of the People's Republic of China;
(2) strengthening multilateral diplomacy to address the
persecution of ethnic and religious minority groups in the
People's Republic of China;
(3) raising the cases of political prisoners imprisoned for
exercising their right to freedom of religious belief with
officials at the highest levels of the Government of the
People's Republic of China;
(4) calling on the Government of the People's Republic of
China to end its harassment and persecution of members of
religious organizations, including underground house church
networks, unconditionally release all unjustly detained
political prisoners imprisoned for exercising their right to
freedom of religious belief, and ensure that detainees who have
not yet been released are treated humanely with--
(A) access to family, the legal counsel of their
choice, independent medical care, and international
monitoring mechanisms; and
(B) the ability to practice their faith while in
detention;
(5) encouraging the global faith community to speak in
solidarity with oppressed religious groups in the People's
Republic of China; and
(6) strengthening--
(A) programs to document and monitor abuses; and
(B) support for defenders of internationally
recognized human rights and at-risk communities,
including dissidents and individuals who have faced
religious persecution by the Government of the People's
Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party.
SEC. 5. ANNUAL BRIEFING.
(a) In General.--The Ambassador at Large for International
Religious Freedom shall provide an annual briefing to the appropriate
congressional committees on--
(1) sanctions imposed on officials of the Government of the
People's Republic of China responsible for gross violations of
internationally recognized human rights described in section
3(a);
(2) efforts to strengthen diplomacy relating to
international religious freedom; and
(3) plans or efforts to raise the cases of political
prisoners imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of
religious belief with officials at the highest levels of the
Government of the People's Republic of China.
(b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
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