[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10130-H10138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROHIBITION OF UNITED STATES FUNDS TO CERTAIN CHINESE OFFICIALS

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 302, I call up 
the bill (H.R. 967) to prohibit the use of United States funds to 
provide for the participation of certain Chinese officials in 
international conferences, programs, and activities, and to provide 
that certain Chinese officials shall be ineligible to receive visas and 
excluded from admission to the United States, and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill is considered read for amendment.
  The text of H.R. 967 is as follows:

                                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 Chockyi 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 
     Chockyi 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.--Nothwithstanding 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 of 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 of any of 
     the following 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).
       (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 purpose as 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.

[[Page H10131]]

     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 paragraphs (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.

       Section 4 shall cease to have effect 4 years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 302, the 
amendments printed in the bill are adopted.
  The text of H.R. 967, as amended pursuant to House Resolution 302, is 
as follows:

                                H.R. 967

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

     SECTION 1. 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 of 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. 2. 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 carried out 
     or directed the carrying out of any of the following 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).
       (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. 3. CERTAIN OFFICIALS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
                   INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS AND EXCLUDED FROM 
                   ADMISSION.

       (a) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, any national of the People's Republic of China described 
     in section 2(a)(2) (except the head of state, the head of 
     government, and cabinet level ministers) shall be ineligible 
     to receive visas and shall be excluded from admission into 
     the United States.
       (b) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirement in 
     subsection (a) with respect to an individual described in 
     such subsection if the President--
       (1) determines that it is vital to the national interest to 
     do so; and
       (2) provides written notification to the appropriate 
     congressional committees (as defined in section 2(c)) 
     containing a justification for the waiver.

     SEC. 4. SUNSET PROVISION.

       Sections 2 and 3 shall cease to have effect 4 years after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] and 
the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Davis] each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman].
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)


                             General Leave

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 967.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 967 prohibits travel grants and visas for Chinese 
officials who repress religion in China and in occupied Tibet.
  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Christians, Muslims, and 
Buddhists who are serving long prison sentences in China and in 
occupied Tibet for merely practicing their religious faith. Let me 
underscore that. Large numbers of Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and 
Buddhists are spending many years of their lives in prison for 
following their religious practices.
  For example, the Beijing Government sentenced a 76-year-old 
Protestant leader to 15 years in prison for distributing Bibles. It 
sentenced 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 2 
years, and their whereabouts are still unknown. The list goes on and 
on.
  Although the President and Prime Minister of China have signed 
directives and set policy that are behind the current crackdown of 
religious practitioners, the bill does not prevent them or the cabinet 
ministers from receiving United States visas. However, it would stop 
others who carry out their directives by imprisoning, torturing, or 
repressing people for practicing their religion.
  This measure sends a strong message that we find religious repression 
repugnant and at grave odds with important American values. It is 
simple, it is modest, and it is the right thing to do.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee [Mr. Duncan].
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
legislation, and I would like to commend the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Gilman] for his hard work on this and all of these so-called China 
bills.
  We should not be providing travel grants to any Chinese officials, 
and especially not to those who are repressing religious freedom in 
that country. Religious freedom is one of the most basic human rights 
that any individual can have. This Congress should encourage the 
Clinton administration to make ending religious persecution the most 
important part of its policy toward China.
  The Chinese are committing horrible persecution, even as we speak. 
Nina Shea said in her recent book, ``Lion's Den,''

       Millions of American Christians pray in their churches each 
     week, oblivious to the

[[Page H10132]]

     fact that Christians in many parts of the world suffer brutal 
     torture, arrest, imprisonment, and even death--their homes 
     and communities laid waste--for no other reasons than that 
     they are Christians. The shocking untold story of our time is 
     that more Christians have died in this century simply for 
     being Christians than from the first 19 centuries after the 
     birth of Christ.

  Mr. Speaker, I think this is simply deplorable.
  In addition, Michael Horowitz, a leader in speaking out against this 
persecution, who happens to be Jewish, said in a recent interview,

       I am speaking out on behalf of persecuted Christians 
     precisely because I am a Jew in the most deeply rooted sense.
       I see eerie parallels between the way the elites of the 
     world are dealing with Christians, who have become the 
     scapegoats of choice for thug regimes around the world, and 
     the way the elites dealt with the Jews when Hitler came to 
     power.

       Another parallel,

  Mr. Horowitz continued,

     is the tongue-tied silence of the Christian community in the 
     face of this persecution. A similar silence was evident in 
     the years leading to the Holocaust. Silence, anybody's 
     silence, in the face of persecution is deadly. So, for me,

  Mr. Horowitz said,

     sparking our campaign for awareness and action is the most 
     important thing I expect to do. What thugs did to Jews, they 
     are now doing to Christians. Christians are becoming the Jews 
     of the 21st century.

                              {time}  1545

  Again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Gilman] for not remaining silent on this issue. I hope the 
administration will follow his lead and end its silence on this most 
important issue. I think this is very important legislation, very 
valuable legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill and 
pass it by a very large margin.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  This bill has, as its stated intention, to send a message to the 
country of China that we will not tolerate religious persecution, nor 
should anyone else in the world do so, and that is indeed a worthy 
message to send. This bill has also been described as a symbol to that 
effect, and that is also a worthy goal. And if the bill were to stop 
with its first section in which the Congress expresses its sense to 
that effect, this would be a worthy bill, but the bill fails to do so, 
and in failing to do so, it has two critical flaws which must lead me 
to speak in opposition to the bill.
  The first is that this bill has as one of its central provisions to 
deny visas to those individuals who are thought to be associated with 
organizations inside China that are engaging in religious persecution. 
On the surface, this might have some appeal to suggest that we are 
going to keep these folks with whom we violently disagree outside our 
borders. But think about it for a minute. If, in fact, our goal is to 
ultimately stop China and the rest of the world from engaging in 
religious persecution, we must in fact engage these individuals. We 
must hold them up. We must highlight the grave injustices that they are 
committing in China and allow that to undergo the scrutiny that 
invariably will occur in this country and around the world as these 
opinions, as these practices, are condemned and challenged and they are 
failed to be justified.
  This is a collision with the truth. This is a collision with the 
fundamental values that represent who we are. We cannot have that 
conversation. We cannot have that scrutiny. We cannot have that 
criticism unless we have conversations with these people. So we must 
bring them into our country to expose them to that criticism and engage 
in a court of world opinion in which, on behalf of everybody in the 
world who disdains religious persecution, we speak out on their behalf, 
to have a conversation in which we ultimately will prevail.
  The second fundamental flaw with this bill is it creates a serious 
risk, which no one can reasonably explain away, that we might suffer 
from the same lack of access to China. One of the most important things 
that is taking place in this country today is that there are many young 
men and women who are giving their lives to service, missionaries and 
advocates for human rights who are traveling to China.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I would just point out that 
articles that were issued under Li Peng, 144 and 145, the Chinese now 
prohibit, strictly prohibit, any foreign proselytizing. If a missionary 
goes to China, he or she cannot speak out and proselytize, whether it 
be the Christian faith or any other faith.
  So their law makes it a crime, and so much of a crime that 
deportation is the minimum of what would happen to that person. The 
maximum is that they will go to prison.
  My staff and I and others in this Congress have worked to help 
people, some of whom were Americans who went over there and somehow 
drifted outside of the official boundaries and talked about Christ in 
one case, and he was arrested and was held and we had to intercede on 
his behalf. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, that is a 
valid point. But the issue I am referring to is a larger issue, and 
that is the grave risk that these individuals whom you describe will 
even lose the right to have access to the country, much as we would be 
denying to the individuals who are described in this bill, and that is 
a serious problem, to deprive our own folks who seek to speak out and 
act against religious persecution in China an opportunity to go over 
there and to speak out with fear of imprisonment, but a choice that 
they have the right to make. We cannot afford to stop our advocacy, to 
stop our missionary work in China, by taking that risk, by denying 
access to individuals from China into this country.
  So the unintended effect of this bill could conceivably be to cut off 
all dialogue, all debate, which we will ultimately win because we are 
right on the subject of religious persecution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Callahan], the distinguished chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the Committee on 
Appropriations.
  (Mr. CALLAHAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this 
time to me, and I rise in support of this issue to tell the gentleman 
that he is moving in the right direction, and a similar bill to this 
same germaneness passed I think this House not too long ago, and I 
think the gentleman is going to receive a unanimous vote today.
  But I come here today to suggest something. Mr. Speaker, we are going 
through a very contentious problem with my bill, which is a foreign 
operations appropriation bill, and in the foreign operations 
appropriation bill we have about 100 pages which appropriates the money 
that the gentleman has essentially authorized us to spend in foreign 
countries.
  Now, in addition to the 100 pages of my bill, we have 400 pages of 
authorization language that the gentleman's committee and the Senate 
have drafted, and in order to save time on all of these bills, let me 
suggest to the gentleman that we just group them all together, and I 
will put them in my appropriation bill, and we will save 6 or 7 hours 
on debating this issue and accomplish the mission that we are after, 
and that is to send China a message in writing a bill that the 
President will sign.
  So I come here trying to facilitate the gentleman to tell him that he 
has a great bill, that he is a great chairman, that he is moving in the 
right direction, but we are running out of time here in this Congress 
to pass an appropriation bill. Since we now have 400 pages of 
authorization language in my bill, I am willing to make it 410, and I 
will accept this language in my bill, and then we can bring my bill out 
of committee and the gentleman's committee will be happy and my 
committee will be happy, the Congress will be happy, because we will 
have been able to resolve a problem that is going to keep us here for 
several weeks if we do not do something in a timely manner.

[[Page H10133]]

  So I come here offering the gentleman a suggestion, a possibility, a 
vehicle to pass this legislation. Just tell me, this legislation is 
good, which I agree with the gentleman, it is good, and we would like 
to see this to become law, and I will take that language and just 
insert it in my bill and the President will sign it.
  So I come here making a suggestion and in strong support in addition 
to that of a way to get this passed and all of these China bills that 
we are talking about passed. Let us just stick them in the 
appropriation bill like we do everything else.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
thank the gentleman for his generous offer, and of course, the 
gentleman and I both should meet with leadership to further discuss the 
gentleman's proposal, but I thank the gentleman for his constructive 
suggestion.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi].
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  I wish to associate myself with the remarks of my distinguished 
gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Callahan], the chairman of the 
subcommittee, who suggested that we can place all of these China bills 
in the foreign operations bill. As the ranking member on that 
committee, I heartily approve of the suggestion of our chairman, but I 
would not want to do that without the full debate that we are having 
here, and I think that is the value of this China package.
  I think the value of the discussion probably exceeds some of the 
clout within this legislation because this is indeed a gentle touch, 
but nonetheless a necessary one, and I commend my colleagues, 
especially the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], and the gentleman 
from California [Mr. Cox] for their leadership in putting this package 
together.
  To the issue of freedom of religion in China, the reason that this 
legislation that the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] is proposing, 
promoting religious freedom in China, the persecution of Christians, 
Buddhists, Muslims, and others, is well documented. Do not take my word 
for it. The State Department's own Country Report states, in the area 
of freedom of religion, ``Although the Constitution affirms toleration 
of religious beliefs, the Chinese government seeks to restrict all,'' 
and that is the Chinese Constitution affirms toleration of religious 
beliefs, ``The Chinese government seeks to restrict all religious 
practice to closely controlled and government-sanctioned religious 
organizations and registered places of worship. At the annual National 
Religious Affairs Conference in January, religious policy was 
`readjusted' to emphasize harder line aspects. During the year,'' that 
would be of 1996, ``many religious groups were subjected to increased 
restrictions, although the degree of restriction varied significantly 
in different regions of China.''
  ``The campaign to shut down unauthorized groups is in the hands of 
the police and religious affairs officials and is being conducted 
concurrently with other police actions against criminals and 
underground separatists, pro-democracy and labor groups. The national 
goal for 1996 was to register or close down all unregistered religious 
groups.''
  ``In 1996 police closed down dozens of underground mosques, temples 
and seminaries and hundreds of Protestant house church groups, many 
with significant memberships; leaders of such groups, including 
itinerant teachers and evangelists, increasingly have been detained for 
lengthy investigation. There are NGO reports of deaths of detainees by 
beating. Some congregations have been hit with heavy fines. In 
Shanghai, home of the patriotic Protestant headquarters, authorities 
have been particularly tough.''
  I will conclude from the pages of reports on lack of religious 
freedom in China, but to say that Premier Li Peng stated recently that 
China upholds freedom of religious belief, but that religion should 
serve the aims of socialism. That is from our Country Report that 
states the condition of religious freedom, or lack thereof, in China.
  I too want to quote from Nina Shays' article and just state that in 
it she says, ``Catholics and other Christians are being persecuted and 
martyred before an unknowing, indifferent world and before a largely 
mute Christian community.'' And that, unfortunately, is true as well.
  That is why the leadership of the gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Gilman] in this legislation is so important, because we cannot continue 
to ignore religious persecution in China while we profess to support 
religious freedom throughout the world.
  When President Jiang was here, again, at the famous breakfast, I 
handed him a letter from Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin-Mei, the Bishop of 
Shanghai. Cardinal Kung asked President Jiang in this letter--

       In the name of 8 million Roman Catholic faithful and clergy 
     in China and also in my name, I respectfully appeal to you, 
     Mr. Chairman Jiang, to defend the right of the Chinese 
     citizens to true religious freedom and to permit the Roman 
     Catholics to maintain religious communion with the Pope in 
     order to keep the fullness of their faith.
       I further appeal to you, Mr. Chairman, to immediately 
     release Su Zhimin, Bishop of Baoding Diocese, Hebei and An 
     Shuxin, Auxiliary Bishop of Baoding; Han Ding Xiang, Bishop 
     of Yong Nian, Hebei; Zeng Fingmu, Bishop of Yu Jiang, 
     Jiangxi; and all other faithful and clergy who are being held 
     in detention camps, labor camps and jails in China.

                              {time}  1600

  The Cardinal goes on to say, ``May China, under your able leadership, 
be internationally known as a country which has true religious 
freedom.''
  In calling for the freedom of these bishops, of course, Cardinal 
Kung, who is in exile because he cannot practice his faith in China, is 
calling the world's attention to the religious persecution of Catholics 
as well as Christians, Muslims and Buddhists in China. If this Congress 
is willing to withhold a visa to a family member of a Canadian 
businessman because he is doing business with Cuba, why should we not 
withhold a visa for a repressor of religion in China?
  I urge my colleagues to support the leadership of the gentleman from 
New York [Mr. Gilman] and vote ``aye.''
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], the distinguished chairman of 
our Committee on Rules.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, again I want to emphasize how important it is to have 
the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] as chairman of the Committee 
on International Relations, and to have the gentlewoman from California 
[Ms. Pelosi] who is leading the fight for this package of legislation, 
which is so important.
  If these people that suffer in China today are going to be relieved 
of any of this oppression, it is going to be because of the gentleman 
from New York [Mr. Gilman] and the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Pelosi], who do truly outstanding work on this.
  One thing that I like particularly about this package of China bills 
is that we get to hone in on particular aspects of Communist China's 
dictatorial methods and irresponsible practices.
  So far we have been able to demonstrate China's abusive treatment of 
political opposition, its use of slave labor, and its rogue 
proliferation activities. Now Chairman Gilman with his Free the Clergy 
Act has brought to light China's abominable record of persecuting 
religious believers. After all, that is what we Americans cherish the 
most. We like to live where we want to live, work where we want to 
work, and worship in the church or the religion of our choice.
  Think of it in this manner. We are better able to see just how 
methodical is the tyranny of Communist totalitarians. Mr. Speaker, 
religious faith of any sort is dangerous to Communists because faith 
leads to strength and independence, and Communists like their people to 
be weak, and they like them to be dependent, not independent. They are 
easier to control that way. That is why ever since Lenin, Communist 
totalitarians have been destroying places of worship; killing and 
jailing priests, ministers, rabbis; raiding prayer sessions; and 
filling people's heads with atheistic propaganda.
  That is part of the Communist doctrine, atheism. That is why they 
have to set up sham churches led by men who ought to be ashamed of 
themselves. I think it is a disgrace that we

[[Page H10134]]

would even let these people in this country. It is beyond belief that 
we would fund their travel in this country with taxpayer dollars. That 
is why this is such a thoughtful and necessary bill.
  To those who say denying visas to these persecutors or denying 
funding to these charlatan religious figures would deny us the 
opportunity to turn them, or something like that, I say, wake up. We 
cannot turn totalitarians. Did we turn Brezhnev or Gorbachev by letting 
them tour America? Absolutely not. Did we turn Jiang last week after we 
rolled out the red carpet for him and gave him all the goodies? His 
offensive and arrogant speech before he left this country gave us the 
answer, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a great bill. Chairman Gilman has enlightened us 
by introducing this and bringing this to the floor. It should pass 
immediately.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher], a member of our committee.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 967, and commend 
the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] for the moral leadership that 
he is providing to the Members of the Committee on International 
Relations. During my tenure here in this body, the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Gilman] has been a strong voice for morality in American 
foreign policy, and a man who I deeply respect. It is no surprise that 
he would be the author of this piece of legislation.
  When discussing this bill, we must understand that the Chinese 
Communist Government is the most egregious persecutor of religious 
believers in the world. In China there are more Christians, Buddhists, 
and Muslims as political prisoners, being held as political prisoners, 
being held in slave labor camps, than in all the other countries of the 
world combined.
  Recently the Chinese Government kidnaped a 6-year-old boy in Tibet. 
What was his crime? He was a 6-year-old boy that was a designated 
leader in the Dalai Lama's Buddhist faith. The Chinese Communists took 
this young boy and they tried to replace him with another young boy 
that is designated by the Communist Party. In other words, the 
Communist Party in China is trying to replace the Dalai Lama, take over 
their religion, oppress these people who have a different faith than 
this atheistic Communist ideology that controls their actions.
  This bill that we are discussing today will deny American tax dollars 
to pay for the visits of any member of the Communist Chinese Government 
involved in persecuting religious believers or leaders in State-created 
mock religious organizations, so that they cannot visit the United 
States at taxpayer expense unless the President of the United States 
certifies that it is in the national interests of the United States to 
do so.
  Symbolically, this bill sends a message to both President Clinton and 
the Chinese Communist leadership that religious freedom does matter to 
the people of the United States and to our elected representatives. It 
sends a message to the oppressed people of the world, and especially 
the repressed believers in China, that we care about freedom of 
religion and we care about them.
  This bill prevents certain officials from visiting here at taxpayers' 
expense. But we are not talking about certain officials, what we are 
talking about is the worst of all officials on this planet. We are 
talking about government officials who are engaged in torture and 
repression of people for their religious convictions.
  In committee it was argued, and we have just heard argued today on 
this floor, it is OK to condemn religious persecution, just do not do 
anything about it. Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we do not want 
Communist jailers and torturers, people who have tortured people for 
their belief in God, to be visiting this country.
  At the very least, if we are going to do something about it, at the 
very least, we should set a standard and say that people who are 
engaged in this antihuman rights campaign in China and in other 
countries to oppress people's religious beliefs, that they should not 
visit our country at taxpayers' expense.
  It is absurd and nonsensical to argue that these brutal thugs will 
change their ways if they simply come to the United States and enjoy 
some chablis and California cuisine with the people here, and our 
liberalism will just sort of ooze over them and they will change.
  We do not want the Adolph Eichmanns of this generation visiting the 
United States at taxpayers' expense. The Nazis would not change their 
ways because they were horrible people. They were villains, they were 
evil, they should not have visited the United States at our expense 
because they were not going to change their ways.
  The same is true for the people who engage in torture and oppression 
in Communist China today. We do not want to change their minds, we want 
to change their position. We want them out of power. If we are going to 
bring anybody to the United States, it should be members of those 
religious communities who are being oppressed in China.
  Our heart goes out to the Christians, to the Muslims, to the 
Buddhists who are being tortured and brutalized by this clique of thugs 
in China. Let us bring them here. Let us express our appreciation to 
those people. Let us socialize with them. Let us send the message that 
we are on their side, and not the side of these people with blood 
running off of their hands. We should be on the side of the oppressed 
wherever in this world there is oppression. We should never be on the 
side of the oppressor. We should never give the image that that is what 
we are.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a tragedy that last month our trade deficit 
swelled. What was the reason for this in the United States, between the 
United States and China? Because we were buying Christmas tree 
decorations from a government, from a country that is dominated by a 
government that is the worst oppressor of Christians on this planet. 
This is Kafkaesque, inviting these oppressors here to socialize with 
us, thinking they will change their ways.
  Let us stand for morality, let us stand for justice. Let us just not 
speak cliches about human rights, let us do something about it, so the 
people of the world will know that America still stands for something. 
Support the Gilman amendment.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi].
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time. There are some points I want to make to clarify a point I had 
made earlier.
  For a point of clarification, I want to say how appropriate the 
legislation of the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] is. Some have 
said, why should we deny visas? It is the policy of the Clinton 
administration to deny visas to family members, say, for example, of 
Canadian businessmen if those Canadian businessmen are doing business 
with Cuba. Their children cannot get a visa to the United States. If 
that is the Clinton administration policy, why then would they, and I 
do not necessarily support that, in fact, I do not, but how can the 
administration that supports that then turn around and say, but we 
think it is inappropriate to deny the visa of a torturer and a 
persecutor of religion in China and Tibet?
  It is on the subject of Tibet I am going to use a little more of my 
time. The country report on China and Tibet reports that during the 
year 1996, authorities increased repression, imprisonment, and abuse or 
torture of monks and nuns accused of political activism. This is a 
tactic the Chinese use. They accuse the nuns and priests of activism 
because of their loyalty to the Dalai Lama, His Holiness.
  According to authoritative Chinese press reports from May, Beijing 
launched a campaign to limit criminal activity in the guise of 
religious practice. The crackdown appears to have three goals: to stop 
acts of defiance, to break the political power wielded by the Lamas and 
to remove officials loyal to the Dalai Lama.
  In addition to this, Mr. Speaker, the Chinese authorities have 
kidnapped the Panchen Lama and installed their own successor to His 
Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Imagine, imagine that they

[[Page H10135]]

have kidnapped this child and replaced him with another child.
  I just want to reiterate what my colleagues have mentioned as well. 
When I asked the question and others in the room asked the question 
about religious repression in China, President Jiang categorically 
denied that there was religious repression in China, right there before 
a mixed audience, the House and Senate, bicameral, bipartisan; 
categorically denied. That was an untruth. We must show the world what 
the truth is. This legislation does that, and has a penalty attached to 
it. I urge my colleagues to support the Gilman amendment.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier].
  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and classmate for yielding 
time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation. I was very 
privileged to work with the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf] and the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith] and the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Gilman] and others in what ended up to be a bipartisan way in 
putting together H.R. 2095, the China Human Rights and Democracy Act. 
One of the key items in H.R. 2095 is our goal of ensuring that those 
who are responsible for religious persecution are not able to receive 
visas to come into this country.
  I say that as one who is strongly committed to what I still believe 
is the most powerful force for positive change in the 5,000-year 
history of China, that being economic reform. Our commercial ties there 
are key to that.
  So I think it is very, very important to note that people like our 
new colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Joe Pitts], who 
joined me when we met with the Chinese Ambassador to specifically ask 
for the release of Pastor Su, and unfortunately that has not happened, 
and I believe we need to continue on a separate track to apply as much 
pressure.
  Now, quiet diplomacy is the route we are taking, but frankly, as we 
proceed with a debate like this, I think it is very fair for those of 
us who want to strengthen ties but at the same time raise our voices to 
let our concern be heard.

                              {time}  1615

  So it seems to me that we have a very, very important responsibility 
to support this legislation because we do have many people who have 
faced religious persecution and we need to do what we can to release 
them. I agree with the statements that my colleagues have made, we 
should not reward those who are responsible for it by granting them 
visas to come into this country.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf].
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong, strong support of this bill. 
I would hope it could be almost passed with a unanimous vote, because 
it is important to note, the Chinese Government is watching really 
today.
  In fact, this debate right now is being watched in Beijing. This 
debate right now is being watched up on Connecticut Avenue at the 
Chinese Embassy. What is said here and what tabulation up on both of 
these things and the tabulation on the board at the end is a message to 
the Chinese Government that they will get literally in about a half 
hour from now. The message is the body is divided, or the message is 
that we are together.
  There is major, major persecution. I almost feel it is a redundancy 
to say, but there are probably six or seven Catholic bishops in jail 
today as we meet. And all the people that gave the announcement, 
including the administration, that Bishop Su was out of jail, it is 
just not true. He is not out of jail.
  In fact, we have a press release dated today that says Bishop Su is 
still in jail. It says he was never released, as reported by the news 
agency. He is now being held in the detention center. So he is not out 
of jail.
  They are also persecuting the Protestant Church. There have been a 
number of Protestant pastors who have been arrested.
  For those in this body who maintain that they care about diversity, 
they are persecuting a lot of Muslims in China in addition to we all 
know what they are doing with regard to Tibet.
  Mr. Speaker, I just urge that we pass this vote with, hopefully, a 
unanimous vote or almost a unanimous vote, knowing that the Chinese in 
Beijing are watching and the Chinese up at the Chinese Embassy are 
watching, and also the people of China.
  And can my colleagues imagine, if they were the loved one of a 
Catholic bishop or a Catholic priest or a Protestant pastor or a 
Buddhist monk or a Buddhist nun, and they heard that the United States 
Congress, the people's House, had passed this resolution by an 
overwhelming vote with regard to, free the clergy, can we imagine the 
inspiration that we would get?
  So I thank the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith] and the other 
gentleman that worked on this bill for their support.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire how many 
speakers are left on the other side.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we have two other speakers that 
are not here. They have been detained. I believe they are working on 
some committee work. So I would be the last speaker. So if the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Davis] would like to close on his side, 
then I will close on our side.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Again, I think it is perfectly clear that the issue here is not 
whether there is any lack of disgust or resolve with respect to 
religious persecution that is occurring within the boundaries of China. 
The issue here is the best way to deal with that.
  I think it is also fair to say that there is yet to be any credible 
argument to refute the fact that, by denying visas here, we are 
disengaging ourselves from an important conversation that needs to be 
held not just within the borders of this country in the conferences we 
have on human rights, but in the court of world opinion throughout the 
world, which we are responsible for conducting by bringing people 
together to debate issues and values.
  Of course, we should not be afraid to debate those who would try to 
defend some of the reprehensible practices that currently occur in 
China, and we should welcome the scrutiny that we can bring to bear on 
these folks by bringing them to conferences and having them speak.
  As has been suggested by a number of people here today, it is our 
burden to raise awareness of these issues, to expose these practices to 
the world and let the heat of truth bear upon them, because we will 
prevail, ultimately, in convincing the rest of the world that more 
pressure needs to be brought to bear on China to put an end to what is 
occurring there.
  One of the supporters of the bill made the comment, we need to show 
the world where the truth is. I would suggest to my colleagues that it 
is fundamentally the case, as our first amendment stands for, that 
there is no better way to do that than to make sure that we have an 
open and honest discussion in this country that has to include the 
people who would, amazingly enough, attempt to defend some of these 
reprehensible practices that are occurring in China.
  In fact, as a result of the meeting that recently occurred with the 
President of China here with our President, there is a delegation of 
religious leaders from our country who will be visiting China in the 
future to pursue exactly the type of conversation that we may 
ultimately lose if this bill were to pass and China were to retaliate 
by denying visas to our religious leaders who seek to enter that 
country to shake the opinion of not just people around the world but 
people inside the borders of China who sympathize with us and want to 
fight to stop human rights abuses.
  Let me finally say, there has been some suggestion that there ought 
not to be any controversy with respect to this bill. And that certainly 
would be true if the bill had ended with the first section, as I 
described earlier, which simply states the sense of Congress that we 
should, under no circumstances, tolerate religious persecution in 
China. But because the bill goes so much further and because it 
contains the two inherent flaws that I

[[Page H10136]]

have referred to, the bill was in fact heavily opposed in the committee 
when it first came up and in fact failed.
  And, in fact, there was opposition to that bill from the chairman of 
the subcommittee, who has jurisdiction over China. And there was 
opposition from other prominent members of the majority party. The bill 
only passed when it was brought up on a motion for reconsideration; and 
even then, it was a very close vote with strong bipartisan opposition.
  So the bill and its objectives is noble. And certainly we need to 
work together, Democrats and Republicans, put politics aside, to not 
just call attention to the religious persecution that occurs in China 
but to find effective ways to stop it.
  This bill is not an effective way to stop it. This bill will 
discontinue some very important conversations that have led us to the 
progress we have had to date, and it also may have the effect of 
cutting off our ability to send some of our religious leaders into 
China to hopefully build up more momentum within that country to stop 
their own religious persecution. For those reasons, I would urge that 
this bill be defeated.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to commend the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Gilman] for this bill, and especially the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Cox] for his leadership in crafting this package, which 
is comprehensive, mutually reinforcing, and really sends a clear, 
unambiguous message to the dictatorship in Beijing that we mean 
business.
  Yes, there are some who do not support linking most favored nation 
status. And the gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier], who spoke 
earlier so eloquently, is one of those. But this is one of those issues 
that most of us, almost all of us, can coalesce around and really 
present a genuine, authentic, united front that we will not tolerate 
human rights abuses in any way, shape, or form.
  First, the bill that is before us would prohibit U.S. taxpayer 
funding for participation in U.S. cultural or educational supported 
exchange programs to PRC officials who have been directly involved in 
persecution, as well as to the officials who direct the agencies that 
have committed the persecution, including, but not limited to, the 
heads of Government-run religious front organizations.
  What do we mean by that? No travel expenses. The U.S. taxpayer will 
not foot the bill to bring these people to our shores. No per diem 
expenses. We are not going to shell out money so they can eat high on 
the hog while back home they are the persecutors.
  Second, the bill would deny U.S. visas to people who actually 
participated in or directed religious persecution. Like other visa 
exclusion grounds for terrorists and narcotraffickers, this would be 
adjudicated on a case-by-case basis by consular officers.
  The Government of China, as we know so clearly, and every reputable 
human rights group bears witness to this and the State Department 
country reports on human rights practices also bear witness to this 
terrible truth that millions of Christians are being persecuted today.
  It is strictly forbidden to be a Christian outside the official 
church run by the Government. If you want to be a Catholic, for 
example, the Government requires you to join a church that does not 
recognize the Pope, has censored huge portions of the Bible. It is 
almost like Swiss cheese; whole parts of the Bible have been ripped out 
and are strictly prohibited from being taught. And they can never say 
anything about government policy and the linkage that policy might have 
to morality.
  It also proscribes the teaching of religion to anyone under the age 
of 18. So no young people can hear about God in China in the 
officially-run churches. And if they do so in the underground church, 
the full weight of the dictatorship is levied against them.
  Catholics who insist on belonging to the real Catholic Church have 
been imprisoned. This includes, at least four Catholic bishops and 
dozens, literally dozens, of priests. As a matter of fact, when the 
gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf] and I met with Li Peng in Beijing 
years ago back in 1994, we handed him a list of imprisoned pastors. He 
would not even look at it and just was in total denial in a way that is 
much akin to what President Jiang Zemin was when he said to us, 
incredulously, that they have had religious freedom in China since Mao. 
Do any of my colleagues in this Chamber believe that, the Cultural 
Revolution, when it was a high tide of crackdown, that that was 
religious tolerance? Of course not.
  We know since 1894, with the issuance of Decrees 194 and 195, the 
crackdown has accelerated, and they are trying to stamp out from the 
face of that country any kind of religious observance that is not 
carefully circumscribed and run by the Government of the People's 
Republic of China.
  The situation, Mr. Speaker, is no better for other religious 
believers either. The Government has conducted a ruthless campaign 
against Tibetans, including the destruction of monasteries, the 
imprisonment and torture of monks and nuns, and the arrest and 
subsequent disappearance of the 7-year-old child, the Panchen Lama.
  In Xinjiang Autonomous Region, formerly the independent nation of 
East Turkistan, Moslem leaders are persecuted for fidelity to their 
religion, the Islam. Recently we had a hearing in my subcommittee and 
we heard the kind of horrific excesses that the security forces bring 
to bear against those who want to practice their Moslem faith.
  Mr. Speaker, the proponents of this bill have already gone, and this 
happened in committee, and I regret that it happened, but it happened. 
There have been changes in this bill. This has been a modified bill. 
The committee adopted an amendment that stripped all the findings of 
fact from the bill on the ground that the Chinese Government had not 
been asked for its opinion on these findings.
  Another amendment was adopted that limited the denial of visas to 
persons who either carried out persecution themselves or directed the 
carrying out of persecution.
  Another amendment to the visa provision limitation made a special 
exemption to the heads of the state-run churches. So the gentleman is 
incorrect based on the plain language of the bill, religious affairs 
ministers and cabinet ministers and heads of state.
  Finally, even in a narrow class of cases, we provided the President 
with waiver authority that, in the event he finds that admitting one of 
these persecutors is somehow vital to the national interest of the 
United States, he can do so.
  This is an extremely moderate bill. Any of my colleagues who pretend 
otherwise ought to read the bill over again.
  I ask my colleagues to read the bill. When it talks about those who 
will be denied per diem and travel expenses and perhaps they may be 
denied a visa, we are talking, and this is right from the bill,

     any military or civilian officer or employee of the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China who carried out 
     or directed the carrying out of any of the following policies 
     or practices formulating, drafting, or implementing 
     repressive religious policies, imprisoning, detaining, or 
     harassing individuals on religious grounds, or promoting or 
     participating in policies or practices which hinder religious 
     activities or the free expression of religious beliefs.

  This is very, very, I think, clear and very tight, and this is the 
minimum that we should be doing.
  Finally, just let me make a point about one particular Catholic 
priest that I met when I was there, and I have met many people in the 
underground church, but Bishop Su of Baoding Province, a man who has 
spent almost 20 years in the Laogai, in the gulags of China, he has 
been tortured in hideous ways, sleep deprivation, genitals being 
cattle-prodded, and all kinds of horrible things. Here he is, a 
Catholic bishop.

                              {time}  1630

  The Chinese Government has now re-arrested him. Madeleine Albright 
and our very distinguished State Department announced with much 
flourish that he had been released. It turns out that was another case 
of disinformation. We have reliable, I will not say it is absolutely 
correct, nobody ever knows in a closed society, but very reliable 
information strongly suggesting that he is still being held in

[[Page H10137]]

Jingyuan County Detention Center in Baoding Province. As Members know, 
there was all this talk that constructive engagement somehow is 
working. ``Look, Bishop Su has been released.'' No, he is still in 
prison. What was his crime? He wants to preach the gospel. He wants to 
talk about Christ. He celebrated mass for our very small delegation in 
a small, dingy apartment. The next day we heard that he was arrested. I 
did not even want to meet with him. I thought that might bring the 
security apparatus down upon his head, and sure enough it did. So if 
Members think that preaching is free and somehow not censored, we are 
only fooling ourselves. For meeting with me and 5 or 6 other people and 
celebrating mass, this man is now in prison.
  When we toast glasses and we say let us have more partnership and 
constructive engagement, let us not forget the men and women who are 
languishing in these gulags simply because of their faith. This is 
Muslims, Buddhists, Catholics, evangelical Protestants in the People's 
Republic of China.
  They do this for the human rights activists as well, as we all know. 
Wei Jingsheng is just one of many who had the courage to speak out and 
say basic human rights need to be protected. He is also languishing in 
a prison and has been severely beaten.
  Finally, just let me say a point about the heads of these officially 
recognized churches. This is what Jiang Zemin said recently in the 
People's Daily, March 14, 1996. He said state religious policy is to 
``actively guide religion so that it can be adapted to socialist 
society.'' I met with the head of the Religious Affairs Department on a 
number of occasions, here and in the People's Republic of China. I 
asked him if he was a believer. He said absolutely not. He is an avowed 
atheist. He said in the Chinese press that the handling of religious 
matters needed to be done according to the dictates of Lenin. He did 
not even say Mao. He said Lenin. We all know what Lenin did to the 
church and how he persecuted the church in the former Soviet Union.
  Rev. Deng Fucun, the general secretary of the government-run Three 
Self Patriotic Movement, made the preposterous claim in the Western 
press on July 16 that there was no such thing as an underground church. 
I and many of my colleagues have met numerous members who were part of 
this underground church. They are brave souls. Some surface. Many are 
in hiding.
  Another atheist who heads the Protestant church, again government-
run, said, and I quote, that there is no persecution in China. Again 
these people become front people. Let us not forget that this has 
happened in other Communist dictatorships. People come here, and again 
what the bill proscribes is that we feed them, we pay for their food 
and we pay for their lodging and their airfare and the like.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a very modest bill. This will advance the ball a 
little bit, not a whole lot but a little bit in the realm of religious 
freedom. We stand today with the oppressed, not the oppressor. I hope 
that people will support this important bill.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I would like to ask a question of the gentleman from New 
Jersey [Mr. Smith].
  Mr. Speaker, if the bill were to have the effect of causing the 
Chinese Government to deny visas to some of our religious leaders who 
attempt to support the underground church he refers to, how does that 
advance our cause of stopping religious persecution?
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. First of all, we are talking about people 
who have persecuted. We are talking about saying that there is some 
penalty affixed. First of all, if our people meet with the underground 
church over there, as I have discovered and others have discovered, 
that means potentially that these people that we meet with end up going 
to prison. They without question will get interrogated, but they might 
even go to prison for a week, a month, who knows how long. That is all 
up to the dictates of the State. Right now they are people who it is 
probably better we have a minimum, if no contact with because we would 
do nothing but lead the secret police to their doorsteps.
  Let me also say for these others to come here at our expense to me 
just, when they are fronting, especially if they have been found to be 
persecutors, is to allow the jailers and the persecutors to come here. 
We need to have a penalty affixed to that. That is why this is such a 
modest bill.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Regula). All time for debate has 
expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 302, the previous question is ordered on 
the bill, as amended.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were-- yeas 366, 
nays 54, not voting 13, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 595]

                               YEAS--366

     Abercrombie
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baesler
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berry
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Bliley
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Cardin
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Clayton
     Clement
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLay
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dicks
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Ensign
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Ewing
     Farr
     Fawell
     Filner
     Flake
     Foglietta
     Foley
     Ford
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Fox
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Furse
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Green
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hefner
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Hooley
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (WI)
     Jones
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kim
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Manton
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McHale
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek
     Menendez
     Metcalf
     Miller (CA)
     Miller (FL)
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Pappas
     Parker
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Paxon
     Pease
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Poshard
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Redmond
     Regula
     Reyes
     Riggs
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Royce
     Ryun
     Salmon
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sanford
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Schumer
     Scott
     Sensenbrenner

[[Page H10138]]


     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (OR)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Snyder
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sununu
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Tierney
     Torres
     Towns
     Traficant
     Turner
     Upton
     Visclosky
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watkins
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Weygand
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wise
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--54

     Ackerman
     Becerra
     Berman
     Brown (CA)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     DeLauro
     Dellums
     Dingell
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Frank (MA)
     Gejdenson
     Hamilton
     Hastings (FL)
     Hilliard
     Houghton
     Jefferson
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kennelly
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     Lofgren
     Maloney (NY)
     Martinez
     McDermott
     McGovern
     Millender-McDonald
     Minge
     Mink
     Nadler
     Paul
     Payne
     Pickett
     Rangel
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skaggs
     Smith, Adam
     Stokes
     Thompson
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Wexler
     Yates

                             NOT VOTING--13

     Carson
     Conyers
     Cubin
     Forbes
     Gonzalez
     Gutierrez
     Johnson, Sam
     McKinney
     Mica
     Neal
     Portman
     Riley
     Schiff

                              {time}  1658

  Messrs. McDERMOTT, FRAMK of Massachusetts, THOMPSON, NADLER, SERRANO, 
MARTINEZ, STOKES, RUSH, VENTO and Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD changed their 
vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mrs. McCARTHY of Missouri and Messrs. SKELTON, CANNON, MORAN of 
Virginia, BONIOR and ALLEN changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


           Motion To Reconsider The Vote Offered By Mr. Wise

  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote by which the 
bill was passed.


                      Motion Offered By Mr. Kolbe

  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay on the table the motion to 
reconsider.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Kolbe] to lay on the table the motion to 
reconsider.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 227, 
noes 185, not voting 21, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 596]

                               AYES--227

     Abercrombie
     Aderholt
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bereuter
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bliley
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Boyd
     Brady
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Cox
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cunningham
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     English
     Ensign
     Everett
     Ewing
     Fawell
     Foley
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Fox
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Johnson (CT)
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kim
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Manzullo
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     Metcalf
     Miller (FL)
     Moran (KS)
     Morella
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pappas
     Parker
     Paul
     Paxon
     Pease
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Porter
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Redmond
     Regula
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roukema
     Royce
     Ryun
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Skeen
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (OR)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Souder
     Spence
     Stearns
     Stump
     Sununu
     Talent
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Tiahrt
     Traficant
     Turner
     Upton
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watkins
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Weygand
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--185

     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baesler
     Baldacci
     Barcia
     Barrett (WI)
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Blumenauer
     Bonior
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Cardin
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Condit
     Costello
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Cummings
     Danner
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dellums
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Filner
     Flake
     Foglietta
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Furse
     Gephardt
     Gordon
     Green
     Hall (OH)
     Hamilton
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hefner
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Holden
     Hooley
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (WI)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manton
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHale
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek
     Menendez
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (CA)
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickett
     Pomeroy
     Poshard
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Schumer
     Scott
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Sisisky
     Skaggs
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith, Adam
     Snyder
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson
     Thurman
     Tierney
     Torres
     Towns
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Wexler
     Wise
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Yates

                             NOT VOTING--21

     Boehner
     Carson
     Conyers
     Cubin
     Davis (FL)
     Forbes
     Gonzalez
     Gutierrez
     Hoyer
     John
     Johnson, Sam
     McKinney
     Mica
     Neal
     Portman
     Riggs
     Riley
     Schiff
     Solomon
     Stokes
     Waters

                              {time}  1718

  Messrs. DAVIS of Illinois, MARKEY and DEUTSCH changed their vote from 
``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the motion to table the motion to reconsider was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

                          ____________________