[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3216-H3217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               JUNE 4--TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE MEMORIAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, 8 years ago this week, the world was shocked 
as people witnessed the brutal suppression of individual freedom and 
liberty in Tiananmen Square, a massacre which is still not acknowledged 
by the authoritarian leaders in China. The images of that massacre were 
seared into our consciousness.
  We have not forgotten those who lost their lives for the cause of 
freedom, and we must not forget those still in prison who have lost 
their liberty in pursuit of this basic right. Indeed, who can forget 
the image of the lone man before the tank, portrayed here in this 
photograph of that courageous act.
  I am proud to say that signing this particular poster on this 
particular poster are the signatures of most of the leading dissidents 
at the time of the democracy movement in China who have since escaped 
from China.

[[Page H3217]]

  It is without question, Mr. Speaker, that we expect to have a 
brilliant future for the people of China, diplomatically, culturally, 
economically, and politically.
  Our problem is not with the people of China, but with the actions of 
the repressive Chinese Government, a Government that continues to 
stifle dissent, to imprison those who dare to speak out, to worship as 
they please, to organize or to disagree. Eight years ago, the brave men 
and women who demonstrated for democracy did so in the spirit and the 
footsteps of our Founding Fathers.
  They quoted Thomas Jefferson. They built a monument fashioned after 
our Statue of Liberty. They looked to the United States as a beacon of 
hope and of freedom. We looked and still look to them for their 
courage, their idealism, and their dedication to the establishment of 
basic human rights and respect for basic human rights.
  Tonight in Washington, DC, there will be a demonstration outside the 
Chinese Embassy. It will be a coming together of many of the groups who 
have worked in solidarity, human rights groups, labor rights groups, 
workers rights groups, religious rights groups who have worked together 
since the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre to call attention to 
the severe repression that continues in China still today.

                              {time}  1245

  As I said earlier, we will gather to honor the pro-democracy 
activists as we recognize their legacy and the legacy that they 
obtained from our Founding Fathers. We cannot and must not abandon them 
in their cause of freedom, both where it is missing and where it 
currently exists. Where it currently exists, of course, is in Hong 
Kong, and I will move on to that in a moment.
  It is quite clear that by imprisoning those that speak out for 
democracy, China's leaders have imprisoned part of all who speak out 
for democratic freedoms. These men and women are the past. The rulers 
of Beijing are the past. The brave men and women of 1989 and of 1978 
and of all the outbursts of freedom, big and small, over the decades in 
China are the future.
  In a few short weeks the world will watch as freedom where it exists 
now in China, in Hong Kong, is tested. We must maintain our commitment 
to the people of Hong Kong and to their civil liberties and basic human 
rights.
  In yesterday's paper, Mr. Speaker, it was reported that in Hong Kong 
there was a huge protest demanding the freeing of the prisoners 
arrested at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Thousands of 
people in Hong Kong rallied as the turnover approaches and makes such 
demonstrations illegal. This rally was first a response to a statement 
made by a leader in Hong Kong, who said ``Forget about Tiananmen 
Square,'' and these young people turned out to say we will not forget 
about Tiananmen Square. So, again, thousands of people turned out with 
posters that said ``Forget Tiananmen Square? Never.''
  Mr. Speaker, in observation of the 8-year anniversary. I once again 
want to call to the attention of our colleagues a book called ``The 
Courage to Stand Alone'', written by Wei Jingsheng. Wei Jingsheng has 
been called the Sakharov of China, and this book was written in a 
prison cell by him. It is a moving book by the paramount leader and 
symbol of the ongoing struggle for democracy and human rights in China.
  They say the most painful part of being a political prisoner, a 
prisoner of conscience anyplace, is that your imprisoners tell you that 
nobody cares about you, that nobody knows you are in prison or cares 
about why you are there. And one thing I want to make certain is that 
those political prisoners arrested for their peaceful demonstration of 
their rights at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre know that 
they have not been forgotten, all of them, including Wei Jingsheng, 
indeed a champion of democracy throughout the world.
  I would like to read more from the book but my time has expired. More 
on the subject later. But let us all come together, regardless of what 
we think about our policy to China, to commemorate the courage of those 
who gave their personal freedom and indeed their lives for the cause of 
democratic freedom in China.

                          ____________________