[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4379-S4380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MR. WEI JINGSHENG

  Mr. KEMPTHORNE. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the important 
issue of political prisoners in China. I want to thank Senators Helms, 
Moynihan, Kennedy, and Wellstone for focusing the Senate's attention on 
this topic.
  As we consider United States-China relations, respect for human 
rights must be at the top of our Nation's agenda. In that regard, today 
I call on the Government of China to release Mr. Wei Jingsheng from 
prison so that he may receive the immediate medical care he desperately 
needs.
  Further, I call upon President Clinton to make the release of Mr. Wei 
Jingsheng, and all Chinese political prisoners, such as the Tibetan 
prisoners of conscience, a top priority as our Nation discusses our 
relationship with China.
  The first amendment of our Constitution guarantees citizens of the 
United States freedom of speech, the right of people to peaceably 
assemble and the right to petition the government for a redress of 
grievances. Mr. Jingsheng does not have these rights, and so I join my 
colleagues asking for his freedom.
  In the United States of America ``We hold these Truths to be self-
evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, 
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.''
  That all men are created equal. This is one of our Nation's 
unswerving principles and we have never and should never be willing to, 
as President John F. Kennedy stated in his inaugural address, ``permit 
the slow undoing of human rights to which this nation has always been 
committed.'' And, as my colleagues know, there is a tragic lack of 
respect for human rights in China, which is why we are making these 
statements today.
  Mr. Wei Jingsheng's courage and conviction should be a beacon to all 
of us. He has received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and I 
would like to quote Senator Robert F. Kennedy:

       Some men see things as they are and say ``why?''
       I dream things that never were and say ``why not?''

  Mr. Jingsheng has that courage to ask ``why not.'' So today, Mr. 
President, I rise and ask the Government of

[[Page S4380]]

China: Why not--why not release Mr. Wei Jingsheng.

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