[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E409-E411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FREE THE CLERGY ACT, H.R. 967

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Free The Clergy 
Act, H.R. 967, a bill that will prohibit visas or U.S. Government 
sponsorship for Chinese Government officials involved in the repression 
of religion.
  Mr. Speaker, there are hundreds of people serving long prison 
sentences in China and occupied Tibet for practicing their religious 
faith. Let me repeat that for my colleagues; hundreds of people, 
Catholics, Protestants, and Buddhists are spending many years of their 
lives in prison for following religious practices. Unfortunately, the 
situation is getting worse.
  According to a report released by Human Rights Watch/Asia:

       The Chinese government is subjecting unauthorized Catholic 
     and Protestant groups to intensifying harassment and 
     persecution * * *.
       During the last two years, the Chinese government broadened 
     its drive to crush all forms of dissent * * * all religious 
     believers, and especially Christians, are seen as potential 
     security risks.* * *

  How does Beijing repress religious practitioners? The Communist 
government sentences a 76-year-old Protestant leader to 15

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years in prison for distributing bibles. It sentences a 65-year-old 
evangelical elder to an 11-year prison term for belonging to an 
evangelical group outside the government-sanctioned 
religious organizations. A 60-year-old Roman Catholic priest was 
sentenced to 2 years of reeducation through labor for unknown charges. 
He had previously spent 13 years in prison because of his refusal to 
renounce ties with the Vatican. The 6-year-old Panchen Lama and his 
family have been detained for 1\1/2\ years and their whereabouts are 
unknown. Scores of Tibetan Buddhists who refused to participate in the 
Communist Chinese sham enthronement of Beijing's ``Panchen Lama'' have 
been sent to prison and one of their spiritual teachers committed 
suicide rather than take part in the Chinese charade.

  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, there are hundreds of such cases. Mind 
you these people are not spending time in prison and wasting their 
lives away for calling for political pluralism or democracy. They are 
being severely punished simply for following their religious beliefs.
  The administration argues that economic liberalization will bring 
about political pluralism. Many policy makers articulate that position 
due to political pressure from business groups. It needs to be pointed 
out, however, that sweeping religious practitioners under the same rug 
for short-term economic interests could be a political mistake that 
will be a long-term liability. The American people are very concerned 
about jobs and the economy but not if it is at the expense of their 
core moral and religious beliefs.
  Our Free the Clergy Act would prohibit visas and any United States 
funds to be spent on Chinese officials who are involved with the 
repression of religion in China and occupied Tibet. It sends a message 
that we find religious repression repugnant and at grave odds with 
important American values.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 967 and ask that 
the full text of our bill be printed at this point in the Record:

                                H.R. 967

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Despite public assurances by the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China that it would abide by the 
     principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 
     despite the United Nations Charter requirement that all 
     members promote respect for and observance of basic human 
     rights, including freedom of religion, the Chinese Government 
     continues to place severe restrictions on religious 
     expression and practice.
       (2) It has been reported that at an internal Central 
     Communist Party meeting in 1994, President Jiang Zemin 
     asserted that religion is one of the biggest threats to 
     Communist Party rule in China and Tibet.
       (3) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Peng signed decrees 
     number 144 and 145 which restrict worship, religious 
     education, distribution of Bibles and other religious 
     literature, and contact with foreign coreligionists.
       (4) The Chinese Government has created official religious 
     organizations that control all religious worship, activity, 
     and association in China and Tibet and supplant the 
     independent authority of the Roman Catholic Church, 
     independent Protestant churches, and independent Buddhist, 
     Taoist, and Islamic associations.
       (5) In July 1995, Ye Xiaowen, a rigid communist hostile to 
     religion, was appointed to head the Bureau of Religious 
     Affairs, a Chinese Government agency controlled by the United 
     Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The 
     Bureau of Religious Affairs has administrative control over 
     all religious worship and activity in China and Tibet through 
     a system of granting or denying rights through an official 
     registration system. Those who fail to or are not allowed to 
     register are subject to punitive measures.
       (6) In the past year, the Chinese Government has expressed 
     great concern over the spread of Christianity and 
     particularly over the rapid growth of Christian religious 
     institutions other than those controlled by the Chinese 
     Government, including the Roman Catholic Church and the 
     evangelical Christian ``house churches''.
       (7) Soon after the establishment of the People's Republic 
     of China in 1949, the Chinese Government imprisoned 
     Christians who refused to relinquish their faith to become 
     servants of communism, charging them as ``counter-
     revolutionaries'' and sentencing them to 20 years or more in 
     ``reeducation through labor camps''.
       (8) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and Catholics are among 
     those now imprisoned, detained, or continuously harassed 
     because of their religious beliefs or activities.
       (9) The prisons and labor camps which hold these religious 
     prisoners are run by the Ministry of Public Security and the 
     Ministry of Justice of the Chinese Government.
       (10) Although some negotiations have taken place, the 
     Chinese Government refuses to permit the appointment by the 
     Vatican of Catholic bishops and the ordination of priests not 
     approved by the Government and insists on appointing its own 
     ``Catholic bishops''.
       (11) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January 1989 at 
     Tashilhunpo Monastery, his traditional spiritual seat in 
     Shigatze, Tibet's second largest city.
       (12) It has always been the right and the role of the Dalai 
     Lama to recognize the successor to the Panchen Lama. On May 
     14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced recognition 
     of a six-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Eleventh 
     Panchen Lama, according to Tibetan tradition.
       (13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai Lama and his 
     family have been brought to Beijing by Chinese authorities 
     and have not been seen for months. The Chinese authorities 
     announced publicly in June 1996 that they are holding Gedhun 
     Choekyi Nyima.
       (14) Chadrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashilhunpo Monastery and 
     head of the original search committee for the Eleventh 
     Panchen Lama, and his assistant, Champa Chung, are believed 
     to have been seized and detained by Chinese authorities in 
     May of 1995.
       (15) Chinese Government authorities subsequently detained 
     other Tibetan Buddhists in connection with the selection of 
     the Eleventh Panchen Lama, including Gyatrol Rimposhe, Shepa 
     Kelsang, Lhakpa Tsering, and Ringkar Ngawang.
       (16) The Chinese Government convened a conference in 
     Beijing where Tibetan monks were coerced to select a rival 
     candidate to the child recognized by the Dalai Lama as the 
     Eleventh Panchen Lama.
       (17) On November 29, 1995, officials of the Chinese 
     Government orchestrated an elaborate ceremony designating a 
     six-year-old boy selected by the Chinese Government as the 
     Eleventh Panchen Lama and on December 8, 1995, a Government-
     sponsored ceremony was held in Shigatze, Tibet, where the boy 
     selected by the Government was enthroned as the Eleventh 
     Panchen Lama.
       (18) By seeking to impose its own candidate as the Eleventh 
     Panchen Lama and detaining the six-year-old boy recognized 
     for that position in accordance with Tibetan tradition, the 
     Chinese Government is infringing on a purely Tibetan 
     religious matter, in blatant violation of the fundamental 
     human rights of the Tibetan people.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF POLICY.

       It is the sense of the Congress that the President should 
     make freedom of religion one of the major objectives of 
     United States foreign policy with respect to China. As part 
     of this policy, the Department of State should raise in every 
     relevant bilateral and multilateral forum the issue of 
     individuals imprisoned, detained, confined, or otherwise 
     harassed by the Chinese Government on religious grounds. In 
     its communications with the Chinese Government, the 
     Department of State should provide specific names of 
     individuals of concern and request a complete and timely 
     response from the Chinese Government regarding the 
     individuals' whereabouts and condition, the charges against 
     them, and sentence imposed. The goal of these official 
     communications should be the expeditious release of all 
     religious prisoners in China and Tibet and the end of the 
     Chinese Government's policy and practice of harassing and 
     repressing religious believers.

     SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF 
                   CERTAIN CHINESE OFFICIALS IN CONFERENCES, 
                   EXCHANGES, PROGRAMS, AND ACTIVITIES.

       (A) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, for fiscal years after fiscal year 1997, no funds 
     appropriated or otherwise made available for the Department 
     of State, the United States Information Agency, and the 
     United States Agency for International Development may be 
     used for the purpose of providing travel expenses and per 
     diem for the participation of nationals of the People's 
     Republic of China described in paragraphs (1) and (2) in 
     conferences, exchanges, programs, and activities:
       (1) The head or political secretary of any of the following 
     Chinese Government-created or approved organizations:
       (A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.
       (B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
       (C) The National Congress of Catholic Representatives.
       (D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference.
       (E) The Chinese Protestant ``Three Self'' Patriotic 
     Movement.
       (F) The China Christian Council.
       (G) The Chinese Taoist Association.
       (H) The Chinese Islamic Association.
       (2) Any military or civilian official or employee of the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China who is directly 
     involved in any of the following policies or practices or who 
     was responsible for the supervision of persons directly 
     involved in such policies or practices:
       (A) Formulating, drafting, or implementing repressive 
     religious policies.
       (B) Imprisoning, detaining, or harassing individuals on 
     religious grounds.
       (C) Promoting or participating in policies or practices 
     which hinder religious activities or the free expression of 
     religious beliefs.
       (b) Certification.--
       (1) Each Federal agency subject to the prohibition of 
     subsection (a) shall certify in writing to the appropriate 
     congressional committees no later than 120 days after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, 
     that it did not pay, either directly or through a contractor 
     or grantee, for travel expenses or per diem of any national 
     of the People's Republic of China described in subsection 
     (a).

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       (2) Each certification under paragraph (1) shall be 
     supported by the following information:
       (A) The name of each employee of any agency of the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China whose travel 
     expenses or per diem were paid by funds of the reporting 
     agency of the United States Government.
       (B) The procedures employed by the reporting agency of the 
     United States Government to ascertain whether each individual 
     under subparagraph (A) did or did not participate in 
     activities described in subsection (a)(2).
       (C) The reporting agency's basis for concluding that each 
     individual under subparagraph (A) did not participate in such 
     activities.
       (c) Definition of Appropriate Congressional Committees.--
     For purposes of this section the term ``appropriate 
     congressional committees'' means the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International 
     Relations of the House of Representatives.

     SEC. 4. CERTAIN OFFICIALS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
                   INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS AND EXCLUDED FROM 
                   ADMISSION.

       Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any national of 
     the People's Republic of China described in paragraph (1) or 
     (2) of section 3(a) shall be ineligible to receive visas and 
     shall be excluded from admission into the United States.

     SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION.

       Sections 3 and 4 shall cease to have effect 4 years after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.

                          ____________________