119 SRES 463 ATS: Expressing condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of religious minority groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists and the detention of Pastor “Ezra” Jin Mingri and leaders of the Zion Church, and reaffirming the United States' global commitment to promote religious freedom and tolerance.
U.S. Senate
2025-11-07
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III
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 463
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2025
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Justice, Mr. Scott of Florida, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wicker, and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
November 7, 2025
Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble
RESOLUTION
Expressing condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of religious minority groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists and the detention of Pastor “Ezra” Jin Mingri and leaders of the Zion Church, and reaffirming the United States' global commitment to promote religious freedom and tolerance.
Whereas, on October 10, 2025, international news outlets reported that the Chinese Communist Party (referred to in this preamble as the “CCP”) detained Pastor “Ezra” Jin Mingri, who is the founder of Zion Church, from his home in Guangxi Province, China;
Whereas CCP authorities also arrested nearly 30 other pastors and church members from Zion Church;
Whereas 23 members of Zion Church remain in detention centers, while other members have been released on bail, and still others are being harassed and intimidated by Chinese authorities;
Whereas the CCP’s actions mark the largest coordinated, nationwide crackdown against an unregistered Christian house church network in more than 40 years;
Whereas thousands of Zion Church members and millions of Christians and other religious adherents who reside in the People’s Republic of China seek to peacefully worship God and care for their neighbors without the threat or fear of persecution;
Whereas the imprisonment of Pastor Jin is the latest instance of CCP persecution of a large number of religious minorities, including Christians, Muslim Uyghurs, Hui Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists;
Whereas, since coming to power in 2012, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping has escalated a campaign to “sinicize” religion in China by—
(1)
allowing authorities to burn bibles, imprison believers, and tear down Christian crosses; and
(2)
forcing religious organizations and adherents to conform to the ideology of the CCP;
Whereas, under the policy of sinicizing religion, the Government of China has—
(1)
ordered the removal of crosses from Catholic and Protestant churches;
(2)
censored religious texts;
(3)
imposed CCP-approved religious materials;
(4)
replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of Xi Jinping; and
(5)
instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology;
Whereas, in 2021, the Trump administration determined the CCP—
(1)
had committed crimes against humanity and genocide against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz; and
(2)
has continued to subject religious minority groups in China to restrictions on religious practices and freedom of expression, arbitrary imprisonment, forced sterilization torture, and forced labor;
Whereas the CCP has made consistent efforts to erode the religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of Tibetans, including by—
(1)
closing Buddhist monasteries and limiting entry or practitioners;
(2)
forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining Tibetans for practicing their religious beliefs;
(3)
censoring religious content online; and
(4)
expanding the use of boarding schools to indoctrinate children in CCP-approved curricula and Mandarin Chinese;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–292), which established, as the official policy of the United States—
(1)
to condemn violations of religious freedom;
(2)
to promote, and assist other governments in the promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of religion;
(3)
to stand for liberty and with the persecuted;
(4)
to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States foreign policy apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, charitable, educational, and cultural channels; and
(5)
to promote respect for religious freedom by all governments and peoples;
Whereas, under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has designated the People's Republic of China as a “country of particular concern for religious freedom” every year since 1999;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114–281) in 2016 to enhance the capabilities of the United States to advance religious liberty globally through diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance;
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328), enacted by Congress in 2016, gives the President the authority to impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for committing human rights violations;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris on December 10, 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted in New York on December 19, 1966, which recognize freedom of religion as an internationally-recognized human right;
Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China explicitly states that citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief; and
Whereas the United States must show strong international leadership when it comes to the advancement of religious freedoms, liberties, and protections: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)
strongly condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of religious minority groups, including Pastor “Ezra” Jin Mingri and other leaders and members of Zion Church and other faith communities;
(2)
reaffirms the commitment of the United States to promote religious freedom and tolerance around the world and to help provide protection and relief to religious minorities facing persecution and violence;
(3)
calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained members of Zion Church, including Pastor Jin, and all other wrongfully detained religious practioners in China;
(4)
calls for the Government of the People’s Republic of China to cease its harassment and intimidation of the relatives of Zion Church members and their relatives, including tactics of transnational repression overseas;
(5)
calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to release all other arbitrarily detained religious believers, including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and other Christians; and
(6)
demands that the Government of the People’s Republic of China—
(A)
respect the internationally recognized human right to freedom of religion or belief; and
(B)
end all forms of violence and discrimination against religious minority groups and entities.