[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2497-H2498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  URGING MEMBERS TO READ AND CONSIDER ``LETTERS FROM A CHINESE JAIL''

  (Mr. COX of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, for nearly 20 years the Chinese 
Government has sought to silence one of the great advocates of human 
freedom and democracy, Wei Jingsheng.
  Wei recently published a book. It is out today. Viking Press has 
produced it. It consists largely of his letters from prison, where he 
has spent so much of his adult life, where he is today, assembled by 
people who believe in human rights around the world. The publication of 
this book in America has today prompted the Communist Chinese 
Government to say that we, by publishing Wei's book, are interfering 
with the independence of China's judiciary.
  Wei Jingsheng is not a well man. He suffers from life-threatening 
heart disease. He has a neck problem that prevents him from lifting his 
head. All of this has developed as a result of the abysmal conditions 
that he faces in prison, where he was recently sentenced to another 14 
years. He is due to be released in the year 2009, if he lives that 
long.

[[Page H2498]]

  I hope all of us in Congress will remember Wei Jingsheng, buy his 
book and read it, as we deliberate on the important questions of human 
freedom that are before us today.

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