Congressional Record, Volume 143 Issue 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)

[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10139-H10147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FORCED ABORTION CONDEMNATION ACT

Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 302, and as
the designee of the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, I call
up the bill (H.R. 2570) to condemn those officials of the Chinese
Communist Party, the Government of the People's Republic of China, and
other persons who are involved in the enforcement of forced abortions
by preventing such persons from entering or remaining in the United
States.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore [Mr. Gibbons]. The bill is considered as read
for amendment.
The text of H.R. 2570 is as follows:

H.R. 2570

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Forced Abortion Condemnation
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

[[Page H10140]]

monitor women's menstrual cycles and subject women who
conceive without government authorization to extreme
psychological pressure, to harsh economic sanctions,
including unpayable fines and loss of employment, and often
to physical force.
(C) Official sanctions for giving birth to unauthorized
children include fines in amounts several times larger than
the per capita annual incomes of residents of the People's
Republic of China. In Fujian, for example, the average fine
is estimated to be twice a family's gross annual income.
Families which cannot pay the fine may be subject to
confiscation and destruction of their homes and personal
property.
(D) Especially harsh punishments have been inflicted on
those whose resistance is motivated by religion. For example,
according to a 1995 Amnesty International report, the
Catholic inhabitants of 2 villages in Hebei Province were
subjected to population control under the slogan ``better to
have more graves than one more child''. Enforcement measures
included torture, sexual abuse, and the detention of
resisters' relatives as hostages.
(E) Forced abortions in Communist China often have taken
place in the very late stages of pregnancy.
(F) Since 1994 forced abortion and sterilization have been
used in Communist China not only to regulate the number of
children, but also to eliminate those who are regarded as
defective in accordance with the official eugenic policy
known as the ``Natal and Health Care Law''.

SEC. 3. DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF PERSONS IN
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ENGAGED IN
ENFORCEMENT OF FORCED ABORTION POLICY.

The Secretary of State may not issue any visa to, and the
Attorney General may not admit to the United States, any
national of the People's Republic of China, including any
official of the Communist Party or the Government of the
People's Republic of China and its regional, local, and
village authorities who the Secretary finds, based on
credible information, has been involved in the establishment
or enforcement of population control policies resulting in a
woman being forced to undergo an abortion against her free
choice, or resulting in a man or woman being forced to
undergo sterilization against his or her free choice.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 302, the
amendments printed in part 3 of House Report 105-379 are adopted.
The text of H.R. 2570, as amended by the amendments printed in part 3
of House Report 105-379, is as follows:

H.R. 2570

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Forced Abortion Condemnation
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Forced abortion was rightly denounced as a crime
against humanity by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.
(2) For over 15 years there have been frequent and credible
reports of forced abortion and forced sterilization in
connection with the population control policies of the
People's Republic of China. These reports indicate the
following:
(A) Although it is the stated position of the politburo of
the Chinese Communist Party that forced abortion and forced
sterilization have no role in the population control program,
in fact the Communist Chinese Government encourages both
forced abortion and forced sterilization through a
combination of strictly enforced birth quotas and immunity
for local population control officials who engage in
coercion. Officials acknowledge that there have been
instances of forced abortions and sterilization, and no
evidence has been made available to suggest that the
perpetrators have been punished.
(B) People's Republic of China population control
officials, in cooperation with employers and works unit
officials, routinely monitor women's menstrual cycles and
subject women who conceive without government authorization
to extreme psychological pressure, to harsh economic
sanctions, including unpayable fines and loss of employment,
and often to physical force.
(C) Official sanctions for giving birth to unauthorized
children include fines in amounts several times larger than
the per capita annual incomes of residents of the People's
Republic of China. In Fujian, for example, the average fine
is estimated to be twice a family's gross annual income.
Families which cannot pay the fine may be subject to
confiscation and destruction of their homes and personal
property.
(D) Especially harsh punishments have been inflicted on
those whose resistance is motivated by religion. For example,
according to a 1995 Amnesty International report, the
Catholic inhabitants of 2 villages in Hebei Province were
subjected to population control under the slogan ``better to
have more graves than one more child''. Enforcement measures
included torture, sexual abuse, and the detention of
resisters' relatives as hostages.
(E) Forced abortions in Communist China often have taken
place in the very late stages of pregnancy.
(F) Since 1994 forced abortion and sterilization have been
used in Communist China not only to regulate the number of
children, but also to eliminate those who are regarded as
defective in accordance with the official eugenic policy
known as the ``Natal and Health Care Law''.

SEC. 3. DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF PERSONS IN
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ENGAGED IN
ENFORCEMENT OF FORCED ABORTION POLICY.

The Secretary of State may not issue any visa to, and the
Attorney General may not admit to the United States, any
national of the People's Republic of China, including any
official of the Communist Party or the Government of the
People's Republic of China and its regional, local, and
village authorities--except the head of state, the head of
government, and cabinet level ministers--who the Secretary
finds, based on credible information, has been involved in
the establishment or enforcement of population control
policies resulting in a woman being forced to undergo an
abortion against her free choice, or resulting in a man or
woman being forced to undergo sterilization against his or
her free choice.

SEC. 4. WAIVER.

The President may waive the requirement contained in
section 3 with respect to a national of the People's Republic
of China if the President--
(1) determines that it is in the national interest of the
United States to do so; and
(2) provides written notification to the Congress
containing a justification for the waiver.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Florida [Mrs. Fowler] for 30 minutes.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mrs. FOWLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)

General Leave

Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that the House is
considering today H.R. 2570, legislation I have introduced to condemn
the practice of coerced abortion and sterilization in China.
I want to state at the outset that this legislation, in my opinion,
does not take a prochoice or a prolife position. It simply condemns
China's all too common practice of forcing women to undergo involuntary
abortions and sterilization under China's one-child-per-couple
policies, and prohibits the State Department from issuing United States
visas to Chinese officials involved in the establishment or enforcement
of these practices. Mr. Speaker, I believe these are goals that we all
support.
Let me also take this opportunity to note my support for provisions
offered by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton], which were self-
executing in the rule, and to thank him for his contributions in this
regard.
The tragic and wholly unacceptable practices that are targeted in
this legislation have been well-documented. I would note that the
latest edition of the State Department's Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices states, ``The Chinese Government continued to
implement highly intrusive one-child family planning policies first
adopted in the late 1970's. Poor supervision of local officials who are
under intense pressure to meet family planning targets results in
instances of abuse, including forced abortion and sterilization. There
were credible reports that several women were forced to undergo
abortions of unauthorized pregnancies in Fujian. A well-documented
story of a 1994 forced 8-month abortion has been reported in the
coastal province Guangdong. A 1995 incident involving a forced
sterilization was also reported in Guangzhou.''
Amnesty International has also expressed its strong opposition to
these practices. In its 1996 report, Women in China, Detained,
Victimized, but Mobilized, it stated its profound concerns about them,
observing, and I quote, ``Testimonies have indicated that officials
have resorted to physical coercion resulting in torture or cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment when faced with this pressure. Family
planning cadres continue to be disciplined and fired for failing to
keep to birth quotas.''
I am aware that some have concerns about how we can assure compliance

[[Page H10141]]

with this legislation's requirement that visas be denied to individuals
involved with these nefarious practices. While I would expect that a
determined effort would be made to identify persons involved in such
acts prior to the issuance of visas, I recognize that enforcement will
not be easy in every instance.
I would state that what is most important is that we provide both a
strong condemnation of these practices, which this bill does, and a
mechanism for taking action against those responsible for them when
information about their activities comes to light.
Mr. Speaker, involuntary abortion and sterilization represent
intolerable human rights violations of the first order. I urge my
colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. (Mr. Gibbons). As the designee of the
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Conyers], the gentleman from Hawaii [Mr.
Abercrombie] is recognized for 30 minutes.
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I will not take the 30 minutes, other than to say how
proud I am to be able to stand here today and associate myself with the
gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Fowler]. I have the good fortune, Mr.
Speaker, to be associated, as well, with the gentlewoman from Florida
[Mrs. Fowler] on the Committee on National Security, and in this
instance I can say that I believe we are cooperating, if you will, in
the same manner and in the same sense of commitment and dedication that
is exemplified in the work on the Committee on National Security.
This is, Mr. Speaker, most profoundly a human rights issue. It is not
something that we are putting forward, or I should say the gentlewoman
from Florida [Mrs. Fowler] has put forward, if I can speak for her in
this instance, because of ideological considerations with respect to
the very real differences that people may have with respect to
questions of choice and abortion here in the United States. This, on
the contrary, is a situation in which we are speaking of force.
Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons that I became involved in political
work in the first place was that I could not understand as a child, as
a young man growing up, how people could do the things that they did
that I discovered when I first was exposed to the Holocaust. I could
not understand it. I could not comprehend it as a student.
One of the things that propelled me in my academic career was to try
to come to grips with what it was in us as human beings that caused us
to be indifferent to the suffering of other human beings; in fact, to
perpetrate death, terror, destruction, inhumanity, one to another.
In this instance, Mr. Speaker, there is no question in my mind that
the forced abortion and sterilization circumstances and actions which
the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Fowler] has outlined and which
Amnesty International has chronicled is taking place.

{time} 1745

Mr. Speaker, this took place in Nazi Germany. If I learned anything
over that period of time in my academic studies in my attempt to try to
come to grips with what human beings are capable of doing to one
another, I recognized that it is because we dehumanize other people
that it is able to be done.
Mr. Speaker, I believe you have had some experience yourself in
warfare and in the destructive capacity that humankind has. We have not
overcome it, but, hopefully, we learn something from it. One of the
things I think that we learn, I hope that we learn, is that we cannot
allow historical reference to simply be abstract, we have to see
whether it applies in our own lives and our own time. It does little
good.
I can think, and, again, I would hope that I am not speaking for the
gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Fowler] on this other than in a way that
recognizes and is cognizant of the thrust of her philosophy behind
putting this bill forward. It is one thing to recognize a Thomas More,
that we must stand for those things which perk our conscience and which
require us as human beings to make visible or expression of witness.
That is what this is.
I agree with the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Fowler] that we are
not in a position to command enforcement. That would be extraordinarily
difficult. That is not an argument against it. That is an argument for
us to stand up and do these things precisely because it is difficult.
Bearing witnesses is not always an easy task. But because it involves
logistical difficulties is not a reason to stop doing it or to urge
that it be done. On the contrary, it seems to me it is even more
pertinent and even more important that we stand up now.
So this, I repeat, from my earlier espousal of the Ros-Lehtinen bill
on human rights abuses toward prisoners in China and in Tibet, in China
and Tibet, that we have to bring the light into the cells and we have
to bring the light onto this situation of forced abortion and
sterilization, not because we are trying to single out China and take a
superior, a patronizing position, an imperialistic position, where we
feel that we can condescend toward China in this regard. Quite the
contrary. China is a signatory to various international covenants and
treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is
in the purview of the United Nations.
Everything that we are doing with respect to these bills in general,
and most particularly to this bill in particular, is a direct
reflection of treaty and covenant obligations that we have as a nation,
that China has as a nation, and that we as individuals surely express.
It most certainly, I believe, exemplifies what we stand for when we
take our oath of office, hold up our hand, Mr. Speaker, as all of us
have been privileged to do on the floor of this House, to uphold and
defend the Constitution of the United States.
Inherent in that, that which has been given to us, the honor and
privilege of serving here, is to reflect upon the philosophical basis
of the origin of the Constitution which allows us to be free men and
women here today. We are, in a very real sense, I believe, defending
those who are unable totally to defend themselves under these
circumstances.
So, Mr. Speaker, I request the favorable attention of our colleagues.
I hope that perhaps those young people might be in the same
circumstances I found myself so many years ago, trying to understand
how to be a human being, what it is that differentiates us from the
other animals, the other species. I have come to the conclusion, and
this bill is a visible manifestation of it, that all animals die, Mr.
Speaker. The difference is in the details of their lives. And the
details of our lives are such that we are able to reflect, we are able
to imagine.
Few animals are able to contemplate the nature of their deaths or the
nature of the meaning of their deaths, let alone their lives. But we
are capable, this species, homo sapiens, is capable of that and, in
fact, is obligated to do that. We have to justify our lives on this
Earth in the time given to us. This bill is one of the times we have to
justify our lives. And in voting for it, I think we act on that
obligation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman
from Hawaii [Mr. Abercrombie], for his gracious comment. We have worked
very closely together on the Committee on National Security, and I am
pleased to be working with him on this bill today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr.
Coburn].
(Mr. CORBURN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. COBURN. Mr. Speaker, I would like for the Members of this body
and the American public to think about for a minute their children. If
they have more than one child, if they lived in China today, it would
not exist. Because of the oppressive practices of this Government, that
if they had a Katie or a Sara, that I do, a second or third child, and
unfortunate enough to be born in China, either they would be terminated
against their will or strangled at birth. That is what this issue is
about, whether or not they have the right to reproduce themselves and
have offspring as a basic human choice.
What is happening in China today? If their first child is born and
happens to be a female, what happens? Oftentimes

[[Page H10142]]

that child is strangled at birth. Why? Because a female in China is not
as capable of caring for their parents at an advanced age as a male is
because of their society.
Regrettably, our country has separated human rights issues from
economic issues under what I believe to be a very false pretense that,
in fact, we can engage on an economic level and that we will change
these horrendous practices. I do not believe that is what is going to
change them.
I think even though we cannot significantly effectively enforce what
we are trying to do today, we have an obligation to say to the people
who live in China they do have the basic right of reproducing
themselves, they do have the right to have a second and a third child
if they so choose, a God given right, and that no government anywhere
in the world has the right to take that right away from them.
It saddens me that we, as a nation, have such a diverse challenge
when we look at Cuba and we say they have human rights abuses and we
cannot trade with them, but because the economic potential is so much
greater in China, that we abandon that principle. We should not abandon
these people. We should enforce at every level that our Government
interacts with China that they stop this practice.
I would beg and plead with the Members of this body to think of their
own children and the fact that, if they lived in China, only one of
those children would exist.
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Lowey].
(Mrs. LOWEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. All
of us in this House, whether pro-choice or pro-life, joined together in
sending a very clear message to the Chinese Government that the United
States will not tolerate a policy of forced abortions and
sterilizations.
As a mother of three and a grandmother of two, I cannot imagine
anything more abhorrent. This policy is anathema to all of us who
celebrate the beauty of life. Members in this House who support
abortion rights believe very, very strongly that every woman in the
world should have the basic right to choose, a woman should have the
information they need to make their own decisions.
I would urge my colleagues who are on the floor today supporting the
right of Chinese women to control their own bodies to accord the same
rights and respect to American women. Let us support reproductive
choice in China and in the United States. Forced abortion must be
condemned. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Pitts].
Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I come before the House today to urge Members
to support H.R. 2570, the Forced Abortion Condemnation Act. This bill
would deny a visa to any Chinese official who carries out forced
abortion or sterilization and condemns those in the Chinese Communist
Party who oversee and enforce this process.
Women all over China are victimized daily due to their ability and
desire to bear children. I would like to share just one story with my
colleagues today that I believe demonstrates the need for this bill.
When Steven Mosher, a Ph.D. candidate at the time, attended a family
planning meeting at Equality Commune in China, he observed some of
these coercive procedures.
Mosher writes, ``From Sandhead Brigade there were 18 women, all 5 to
9 months pregnant, many red-eyed from lack of sleep and crying. They
sat listlessly on short plank benches arranged in a semicircle about
the front of the room where He Kaifeng, a commune cadre and Communist
Party member of many years of experience in mass meetings, explained
the purpose of the meeting in no uncertain terms.'' His message to the
women was anything but reassuring. He said, slowly and deliberately,
``None of you has any choice in this matter. The two of you who are 8
or 9 months pregnant will have a Caesarean. The rest of you will have a
shot which will cause you to abort.'' In order to be allowed to return
home to their families, the women had to agree to abort their babies no
matter how far along their pregnancies were.
Mr. Speaker, this is not family planning. Forced abortions are
outright human rights abuses. I do not believe that this is a pro-life
or pro-choice issue. This is a human issue. It is an issue of blatant
governmental abuse. The United States must not in any way be a part of
it.
We, as Members of Congress, must agree that China's so-called
population control techniques are inhumane. We have a moral obligation
to play absolutely no part in assisting such abominable abuse of women
and their families.
My colleagues, listen to the cries of these women in China.
Acknowledge their grief. Vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2570.
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, we have no other Members wishing to
speak at this time, and therefore I will yield back the remainder of
the time allotted to us.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we have more speakers than we
have time remaining. If the gentleman from Hawaii [Mr. Abercrombie]
would be gracious enough to yield time.
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I will yield to the gentlewoman from
Florida [Mrs. Fowler] such time as may still be reserved for this side.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Alabama [Mr. Bachus].
Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs.
Fowler] for yielding me the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this concerted effort to,
hopefully, force China to change its present practice of religious
persecution, suppression of individual freedoms and liberties,
systematic genocide of children, and intimidation of Taiwan.
Despite its many claims of reforms aimed at improving its business
climate, China is still a Communist regime. China imprisons citizens
who hold prayer meetings in their homes. That is repression. China
requires registration of all religious groups and imprisons those who
refuse to register. That is repression. China refuses to recognize the
Catholic Church's appointment of a bishop, in fear that he will
advocate service to the Pope or to the state. And that is repression.
We all are, sadly, aware of the population control efforts which
force abortion of Chinese children, especially girls.

{time} 1800

We are also all sadly aware of the crackdowns on dissidents who dare
speak out for democracy and fairness. And we are all disturbed by
China's constant threats to the security of the people of Taiwan, such
as the missile firings and military exercises. Too often those who
rattle sabers become tempted to use them.
In my view, trade is an important component in encouraging China to
move towards democracy. Once the forces of free market and free
enterprise start their dynamic reaction, heavy-handed regimes can no
longer contain their by-product, a real desire for more and more
freedom. China's leaders can try to build a free market without free
people, but they will not succeed. A free market requires, demands and
therefore leads to a free people.
The United States granted normal trade relations to China for one
primary purpose, to foster change. China's President thinks that there
are no strings attached to the generous treatment our country has
afforded China. But today we in Congress need to send a message to
Jiang Zemin, stop the religious persecution, stop killing babies, stop
arresting and killing peaceful dissidents and stop the threats aimed at
Taiwan.
This legislative package sends that message. It offers an important
set of tools for fostering human rights improvement and freedom for the
people of China.
In conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support the China package in
its entirety.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Nebraska [Mr. Christensen].
Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R.

[[Page H10143]]

2570, the Forced Abortion Condemnation Act. As we heard earlier, this
legislation would deny visas to Chinese officials who carry out forced
abortion and sterilization practices. H.R. 2570 would accomplish that
by condemning those Chinese officials who oversee and enforce abortion
or sterilization practices on their citizens.
When I was in Hong Kong about a year ago, I had a good visit with an
individual whose father is high up in the Chinese Government. We talked
about this problem. With 1.2 billion people in China, he said, ``Jon,
we have abortion out of necessity. I don't agree with it, but you point
the finger at China and here in America you have abortion out of
convenience and you murder 1.5 million children every year.''
I could not respond to that. He was right. So as we are condemning
China and what is going on over there with the forced abortions,
abortion is abortion. Whether it is forced abortion, it is the unborn
child that we are talking about here.
I welcome those that have voted against the pro-life movement in the
past to this debate today. I think it is wonderful that we are all
coming together to support this type of cause. But I encourage us to
look at the end result, the unborn child. There is no issue that is
more gruesome than abortion, the fact that we are losing unborn
children.
If the Chinese Government can continue to take a look at this issue,
to work with us, to take a look at what we are trying to do here in
America, to move us closer, I believe we can begin to work to save
children all around the world. There is no doubt about it that this is
a human rights issue. It is a human rights issue that must be stopped,
it must be stopped now. I believe that H.R. 2570 is a step in the right
direction. It sends a clear message to the Chinese Government, it sends
a clear message to the Chinese people that America believes in life,
that Americans all around the world who are fighting for this cause for
freedom, freedom for those that do not have a right to speak, for those
that are yet to be born, that it is a fight worth fighting for.
We welcome all those people today and we hope for a unanimous
decision here. I hope that everybody will join this cause for freedom
for the unborn around the world.
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 8 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey [Mr. Smith].
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding me this time and I thank her for her leadership on this issue.
Let me just begin by saying that forced abortion was rightly
construed by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal to be a crime against
humanity. This House of Representatives throughout the 1980's and
1990's has repeatedly gone on the record with recorded votes to again
reassert that what is going on in the People's Republic of China is
eerily reminiscent of what went on during the Nazi era where forced
abortion was employed with devastating consequences against
particularly Polish women that the Third Reich had deemed to be
expendable.
It is an exploitation of women. It steals their children. It is a
State-sponsored rape, and the baby dies a very cruel and merciless
death either by chemical poisoning or by dismemberment. We know for a
fact, and there has been much documentation on this, that many of these
babies are killed very late in pregnancy. The mothers desperately want
to have these children. They often try to evade the population cadres,
the family planning cadres who scour the countryside looking for these
women and then if they find that they are with child, they then hound
them, they browbeat them, they use peer pressure and a host of other
techniques of psychological persuasion, and if that does not work, then
they make an example of them and truss them and get them to these
abortion mills.
Just a few weeks ago, the Chinese government rolled out another
hideous manifestation of this forced abortion policy. They announced
about 600, according to a wire service copy, 600 new mobile abortion
clinics. We put mammography and other health screening on wheels and we
save lives, we mitigate the pain of breast cancer and things of that
kind through those kinds of detection devices. What do the Chinese do?
They are putting abortion clinics on wheels, and 600 of these will join
this other army of abortionists that scour the country of China to kill
the babies.
I led 3 human rights trips to the People's Republic of China. I have
met with Peng Peiyun, who runs the population program and she totally
denies that coercion is part of their program. I have met with Li Peng,
the premier of China, totally denies that there is any kind of
coercion, forced abortion or forced sterilization. When the President
of China, Jiang Zemin, was in town, I raised the question at the
breakfast which was attended by Members of the House and the Senate
about forced abortion, and again he denied it.
Let me also remind Members, because we had some people who do not
usually take the pro-life point of view today speaking, we welcome
their input, that the United Nations Population Fund has whitewashed
these crimes against humanity since the one child per couple policy was
conceived back in 1979. They have given awards. The U.N. gave an award
in the early 1980s for excellence in population matters, at a time when
a high tide, at a time when forced abortions and sterilizations were
actually on the rise. If that does not stand with the oppressor and the
exploiter of women and children, I do not know what does.
And the UNFPA, the U.N. Population Fund continues to whitewash and to
defend the policy. Dr. Sadik, the Executive Director of the UNFPA, and
I have met with her a number of times. She has said this to me
personally, she has also said it on Night Watch, a CBS news program and
other programs that are in the public domain, that the Chinese program
is purely voluntary. I say to my colleagues, nothing could be further
from the truth. The U.N. Population Fund stands, I believe, accused by
their own words and by their complicity in this program as being
complicit in the maiming and the killing of women and children in the
People's Republic of China.
Civilizations, Mr. Speaker, have long been judged by how they treat
women and children, old people and strangers. Vulnerable people bring
out the kindness in every society. But they also bring out the cruelty.
Every so often they become the object of practices that are so heinous
that all of us recoil in horror. In China today, forced abortion and
forced sterilization fits that.
Let me just remind Members as well that a couple of years ago the
Chinese announced another manifestation of this hideous program. In
1994, they targeted the handicapped. Again in a move that was totally
reminiscent of the Third Reich, they said that the Down's syndrome
kids, the kids that somehow do not measure up, would be targeted for
elimination as part of their eugenics policy. We need to condemn that
as well. Handicapped kids are valuable. We should love them and embrace
them and protect them. No government has a right to forcibly abort and
kill these children because they are found to be afflicted with some
anomaly like Down's syndrome or any other kind of anomaly. I chair the
Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights. I have had 4
hearings on forced abortions. Let us not forget that the Clinton
administration, until it finally signed the immigration bill that
reversed his policy, would not even provide asylum for women who are
fleeing coerced abortion and forced sterilization in China. We brought
in after, and we had to subpoena these witnesses, some of the women who
had suffered this cruelty of 6-month late-term abortions, forced
abortions, and I will put the entire testimony of those brave women
into this record. But one of the women talked about how she had found a
baby girl who had been abandoned crying. And like the good Samaritan,
and maybe she never even heard of that story, I think most of my
colleagues have, she picked up this little girl. And what happened to
her? The family planning cadre said that counts against your number.
And then they visited her, and after 10 times trying to tell her and
persuade her to be sterilized, they finally forced her to be
sterilized.
Another woman in the hearing, and many of my colleagues were at that
hearing, my wife was at that hearing, I had a tear in my eye. She broke
down and could not even continue her testimony. When she talked about
how late

[[Page H10144]]

in her pregnancy, she was worn down to the point where she could resist
it no more and they took her, she was broken and beaten and finally her
baby was forcibly aborted as well. I urge Members, because time does
not permit a full reading of this testimony, but these people have come
forward. They were even being held here, I would say parenthetically
because they did not get asylum until Congress passed the law that the
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde] offered as an amendment to that
important bill.
Finally, just let me say to my colleagues, we need to go on record,
this hopefully will be a unanimous or a near unanimous vote in favor of
this legislation, but I hope that it continues when we start talking
about those organizations like Planned Parenthood Federation, IPPF
based in London, the United Nations Population Fund. When I hear such
strong words from my colleagues on the other side of the issue as we
heard today, let us not forget that these organizations front, are
complicit with and become very much part of the fabric of the
implementation of this coercive population control program. Let us not
in any way accept the bogus denials that the Jiang Zemins and the Li
Pengs and Peng Peiyuns and all the others and the Dr. Sadik, who runs
the UNFPA, and others offer to try to get us to take a look and say,
``Oh, maybe it's not as bad as we thought.'' We need to stand up
strongly. This legislation advances the ball.
Again we will be revisiting this over and over again. When this
chapter is finally written someday, those who are complicit will have
shame and sorrow over their face. Let us stand with the oppressed and
not the oppressor.
Mr. Speaker, the material referred to in my remarks is as follows:
I would like to introduce Weng Kang Di, who will begin. And
he and Chen Yun Fei are husband and wife. And I just would
note parenthetically have been separated for 2 years. They
are husband and wife, and this hearing provides an
opportunity for the first time, in a long time, for them to
see one another.
If you could proceed.
[Interpreter speaking in Chinese.]
Mr. Smith. Please pull the microphone very close so we can
hear the Translator as well as the witness.
[Interpreter speaking in Chinese.]
Mr. Smith. If Weng would want to proceed with his
testimony.

statement of weng kang di, asylum seeker

Mr. Weng Kang Di. My name is Weng Kang Di. And Chen Yun Fei
is my wife.
My wife will tell you what happened to us.

statement of chen yun fei, asylum seeker

Ms. Chen Yun Fei. I am a woman from the countryside, so I
do not know how to say those very polite languages. I would
like you to forgive me for that.
I come to the United States because of the Chinese family
planning program.
The reason I came to the United States is because the
Chinese Government does not allow us to have more than one
child.
Because I have more than one child, that is why they try to
suppress me, oppress me; and that is why I escaped to the
United States.
Shall I say something more specifically?
Mr. Smith. If you could give the details about your
situation, the treatment by the family planning cadres, for
example, why did you feel so threatened, whether or not you
were mistreated.
Ms. Chen Yun Fei. The Chinese Government only allows us to
have only one child, and I have three children. And that is
why they want us, people who have more than one child, to
have sterilization and also fine a certain amount of money.
If a person got pregnant, then they want you to bear the
child before it is mature. If you are pregnant, they will
force you to have abortion. So I am a woman from the
countryside. I do not want to have sterilization.
I would like to tell you my story.
I have come to the United States. I consider the U.S.
Government is a democratic government. And I believe that you
will rescue us.
Now I am going to tell you my story.
In 1982, the second child of my husband and mine were born.
And then the local government from the people's commune, from
the sterilization group, they come to our home and noticed
us, sent us notice to have me sterilized.
Because it is so imminent, I told them, yes, OK, I will go
and have sterilization. And this is a way that I pushed them
away at first.
I took the opportunity after they left, I escaped to other
places.
I can only escape by telling them I agree that I will have
sterilization. That is the only way I can get them away.
At that time, the sterilization campaign was just at the
beginning, so they were not pursuing very tightly.
In 1986, the first part of 1986, when the sterilization
program, the family program, was at its height and it is very
unfortunate that I got pregnant again. It was like a two to 3
months pregnancy I was. And at that time, the cadres of the
local government were trying to catch women every place. So
you could hear the sound of crying, you know, everywhere. And
they used the tractors to put on this big loudspeaker to tell
people that those people who are pregnant, you have to go to
have it born immature. And then if you are pregnant, you have
to have abortion--early stage of abortion. And also, after
you have abortion, you are going to have sterilization and be
fined a certain amount of money.
I did not want to have sterilization, so I was very, very
afraid. And also I was thinking even if I had sterilization,
I have to be fined and I do not have money. I am a country
woman. So I stealthily went to a place to find a medical
student who learned to be a doctor to help me to have the
abortion. This person is in private practice.
And this person, this medical student, he was very afraid.
He did not dare to help me, because he said if the government
found out he would be in trouble. It was a great risk. But I
begged this person again and again. So finally he helped me
to have this abortion.
Because he is a medical student, he did not have the full
grasp of the technique to do this abortion, so after the
abortion I got this very serious infection because we had
done that in a hurry. From then on, I was in poor health.
Now after the abortion, I went home. But on my way home, I
saw a baby girl which was only born like seven or 8 days,
lying on the road, crying very hard, and it is very weak,
this little girl. And a lot of people were watching, so I
asked people around to help this child who can take this
child home, otherwise, this child is going to die because she
has nothing to eat. But those people around said, you are
talking nonsense. You know this is the time that the campaign
is at its height; who dare to have this child home? So if you
want to rescue this child, you are the person who will bring
this child home. So I was very angry because I thought, you
know, you people did not want to help, this child is going to
die. So I said, if nobody wants to help this child, I am
going to help the child. If you are afraid of the government,
I am not afraid of the government. So finally, I took the
child home.
People were talking that this child belonged to a family,
the last name of the family was Sun. Because in China if you
do not have a son, then people will look down upon you if
there is no way for you to have a voice. So that is why the
family abandoned this child on the roadside. And I remember
what people, the last name is Sun. So I gave her a name
called Sun Sisi, still using her own last name. So I adopted
her.
So after I returned home, later the government, the cadres
of the local government, found out. And then they came to my
home saying that, you know what you did and you already have
two boys and you picked up another girl and so you have to
have the sterilization.
So I did not want to have sterilization, and I begged them
to let me have the child. And I said, what you said is really
ridiculous because this child was not my own. I just picked
her up from the roadside. But they said, since you picked up
the child, it should be accountable among your family
planning program. It belongs to you so you have to have
sterilization since you have three children.
So I told them that the reason that women, after they have
their child born, to abandon the child at the roadside was
all due to the government policy. If I did not rescue the
child, the child was going to die. And when they heard what I
said, they were very angry.
So I did not want to have the sterilization, I told them,
if you really want to have sterilization, then you go and ask
this mother of the child to have sterilization, that is the
Sun family, this girl's mother. But they said, since you
picked up, you have to go to have sterilization. So we argued
back and forth for a long time. And they came to my home
insistent that I should have this sterilization. They came
many, many times.
So they came to my home more than 10 times, and they said
this woman who dares to counter the government; so they
forced me to sterilization. I begged them that, since I had
already had one abortion, I am in poor health. So they
insisted that I am now going to have the sterilization. And
then the cadres got very angry. They said this woman is very,
very tough, very difficult to deal with; so let us have her
husband to have the sterilization.
And when my husband heard that they wanted him to be
sterilized, so he jumped out of the window and escaped. And
so I begged them, saying that, please do not have my husband
sterilized because the whole family relied on him to till the
land. Because in China we use all manual labor. You have to
carry water bucket by bucket. So everything--he is the
mainstay of the labor in the field. So I was very, very
frightened and while at the same time I was very angry. So I
fainted, and the whole family was crying and I did not know
what happened because I fainted.
That was in 1986. Now conditions are turning better. People
are using tractors. At that time everything was manual labor.
So after I came to, the whole family was crying and the
cadres were gone and my husband was back. Then I said I would
not let my husband be sterilized because I have to rely on
him to till the land. Then I decided that we have to

[[Page H10145]]

go because they will not let us off the hook. Either I will
be sterilized or my husband will be sterilized. So we escaped
to a place which is closed to where Mao Zedong had his
headquarters. It is a very, very tough place, a lot of
mountains and wild places, not much to eat.
That was a very baron place. I started to work mending
other people's old shoes. It is a very, very deplorable
place. The living condition is very, very little. People
slept on this bed made of mud. And at the end of the bed,
there was a stove. You put firewood in. Then the heat would
go through under the bed. That is the heat you have to have
in the winter. That is called a kang. And people all live in
the cave. So I started up--because the people were very poor,
they have to have their old shoes mended again and again. And
I started to do this to make some money.
I would not dare to go back home, and I stayed at that
place for 7 years. That place has a very, very hurricane kind
of a big storm, windy and a lot of snow in winter. People
eat, mainly, maize and sorghum.
I was very eager to back to visit to see my children and my
family, but I was afraid if I went back home I would be
caught again. So I stayed there for 7 years. But when I first
went there, this place was deplorable; there was no family
planning program going on. But after 7 years, they started
having the family planning campaign. They came to the cave
where we stayed to check so-called identification. Everyone
has an identification. They checked the identification to see
whether there is anything wrong.
I returned home in February 1993. And then shortly after
that, the government got to know that I was back and so they
came to my home saying, that, OK, now you are back; we have
been looking for you for several years; we could not find
you. And then I begged them not to--I told them that I am not
going to have more children, so please do not ask me to have
sterilization. They said, no, you are among the list; you are
still in the list; you have to have the sterilization. And
then they said, this woman is very stubborn.
So even if you have sterilization, we are going to fine
more the money that we are going to fine you. So I was very,
very angry. I told them that the money you fine you should
not use that money. if you use that money--because they
divide the money among themselves--if you use the money to
eat or something, then you will die. Then they started to
bind me, you know, to force me to the sterilization place.
And I told them that I did not do anything wrong. I was not a
robber. I did not steal anything. They only thing I had done
is to have more children than one child.
So I was very afraid because my husband, when we just
returned, when people saw these cadres were coming, they
shouted, they are coming again, they are coming again. So my
husband left again. He escaped. I told him that, you escape;
I will deal with them by myself. So he escaped.
I told the cadres that, do not, you know, bind me together
using a rope or something. I will go and have sterilization
by myself. So under such circumstances, I was forced to have
sterilization done.
After the sterilization, five or 6 days later, I went home;
but I was not--I did not agree with their policy. And they
are going to--because I knew they, said, they are going to
fine me more money than usual. So I though that, I do not
have the money. And then my family told me that my husband
escaped because the relatives and friends thought it is very
pathetic and they helped him to escape to a foreign country.
And I thought to myself, what am I going to do by myself; I
do not have the physical strength to till the land by myself
and they are going to fine a lot of money. And I had three
children. I did not have enough money.
So I escaped, too.
So I am here.
Mr. Smith. I thank you very much for that testimony, and
there will be some questions by members of the panel. But I
would like to ask the other witnesses if they could testify
before we go to that.
Hu Shuye, if you would not mind speaking next.

statement of hu shuye, asylum seeker

Ms. Hu Shuye. I do not speak very well Mandarin, so please
forgive me.
I left China because of the family planning program.
I was pregnant 6 months and was forced to have an abortion.
In November I was told to have sterilization because I have
two children and one abortion already. And I did not want to
have this sterilization, and I left home for a month. And
after I came home they forced me to have sterilized.
I had no way out. They forced me. They dragged me to have
this surgery done.
Mr. Hyde. Mr. Chairman, can counsel tell the story?
Mr. Smith. Craig, would that be possible?
Mr. Hyde. Do you know her story?
Mr. Wilson. Mr. Chairman, unfortunately this lady's counsel
is not present. We could for any of the others.
Mrs. Smith. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Smith. Yes.
Mrs. Smith. Could we let someone else testify and let her
gain her composure, please.
Mr. Smith. Yes, that is a very good idea.
I would like to ask Li Bao Yu if she could make her
statement at this point.

statement of li bao yu, asylum seeker

Ms. Li Bao Yu. I am a Chinese citizen, and my name is Li
Bao Yu. I had a daughter born in 1990. Because I was afraid
of the family planning program, I did not register her birth.
Later the government found out, and they asked me to have an
IUD put into my body; but I begged them not to do that. But
they just approved. They insisted on having an IUD in.
So they forced me to put in this IUD. And after that, my
health deteriorated. My doctor said, you have to take this
IUD out before your health can return to normal. So my
husband and I went to this family planning office to ask them
to let me have this IUD taken out, but they did not. I
promised them that I am not going to have more children.
They did not approve our request, and my husband was very
angry; so he started to quarrel with the cadres. The cadres
threatened him: ``If you are going to continue to disobey us
and quarrel with us, then we are going to sterilize you.'' So
I persuaded my husband to go home. And then after that, my
mother found a private doctor and had my IUD taken out. After
that, my health began to improve.
In my native place, they have inspections of the family
planning program every season; and I would not dare to have
inspection because they will find out that I had this IUD
taken out by myself. But they kept on sending me notice
telling me to have this inspection. I always gave them
excuse, I am not home; but they came to my home many times.
They could not find me, so they were very angry. In January I
became pregnant again. After 3 months, they still could not
find me. One day they came and I happened to be home, so they
wanted me to go have an exam.
My husband at that time was not home because he was * * * I
said: ``Let me wait until he comes home. Then I will * * *
this exam.'' They disapproved. They did not agree. So * * *
dragged me to the place to have the exam. After the exam * *
* course, they go to know that I was pregnant and had * * *
taken out. They wanted me to have an abortion. I begged them.
They did not agree. They threatened me saying that, if you do
not have this abortion, then your first child, your daughter,
will forever not allow to have her identification registered.
Because in China if you register a born baby, you have
certain kind of coupons, whatever. They threatened me that if
I do not agree to have this abortion, then my first child
will forever have no chance of being a registered, normal
citizen.
Mr. Smith. If I could interrupt, does that mean denial of
education or health care or job opportunities? What does that
mean?
Ms. Li Bao Yu. Yes.
So I was forced to have this abortion. And after that, my
health was very poor. Because that was a hospital in the
countryside, the hygienic conditions is not very good. I had
a very negative impact on my health. I was bleeding
profusely. And they wanted me to have sterilization following
the abortion. But the doctor said since I was bleeding so
much, it is not possible to have sterilization immediately.
I was not in a condition to return home, so I stayed in the
hospital; and my husband came to visit me in the hospital. He
was very angry and argued with the cadres. And the doctor had
nothing--there is nothing that the doctor can do for my poor
health. So the cadres from the family planning office, they
kept on arguing with my husband. They have the power in their
hands, so we are not in a position to fight with them. After
I went home, they again said that, when your health improved
a little, you still have to have the sterilization done.
Because I am a housewife in the countryside, I have to do
everything at home. My husband was a worker at the time. But
since my health was poor, I could not do so much. I felt
burdened. Sometimes I went to my sister's place to see a
doctor. And sometimes my husband stayed alone at home. And
the family planning program office kept on telling me that
when you have your health improved, you have to have the
sterilization. Later my husband escaped to his relative's
home and I escaped to my sister's home.
So none of us would dare to go home. Later, because of my
husband's work--the need for his work, so he has to return
home. Then the family planning office informed him to asked
him to inform me to go and have the sterilization. They
insisted on that. And my husband told them that, my wife was
still sick. So they argued again. And then they said: ``If
you argue with us, then you go and have the sterilization.''
And they then started to struggle with each other, and he
escaped later.
My husband thought at that time that under such
circumstances it is not going to maintain peace any more.
They will, anyway, come to force us to have sterilization. So
through somebody's recommendation, my husband escaped to the
United States.
After my husband left China, I was at home by myself. My
health was still not very good--no, she was not at home at
first. She would not dare to go home. But her health was not
good.
In 1992, during the Chinese New Year, she wanted to go home
to spend the New Year together with her family; so she
returned. After a few days, she did not know how they found
out. The family program cadres came to my home again and
forced--pressuring me to have sterilization. At that time, I
escaped through the back door.
I thought, since my husband was not home, they would not
pursue me any more; but it

[[Page H10146]]

was not the case. They kept on pressuring me. I would not
dare go home. That means, even if I had had a home, I cannot
go home. Under such circumstances, my mother and other
relatives, they helped me to find a way to escape to the
United States.
Mr. Smith. The bells that you heard, just by way of
explanation, means that there are votes again occurring on
the House floor. We will take a very short break and then
resume some of the questioning as Members do return.
Again, just let me say before we break for recess--and
perhaps you could translate this for them--hearing you tell
your stories--and I think I speak for everybody on this panel
and I speak for Members of the Congress, both parties,
Democrats and Republicans--you really represent the voices
and the tears of the women of China. The crimes that have
been committed against you and against the women of China are
no less serious than the crimes that were committed by the
Nazis.
It is even more appalling when we realize that the Clinton
administration wants to send you back to your oppressors. And
when we realize that groups like the U.N. Population Fund
stand by and cheer as China achieves these targets in
population control when every one of those numbers represents
a person who has been injured, made sick, exploited, and hurt
by their government.
The subcommittee is in recess for 10 minutes.
[Recess.]
Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will resume its hearing. Again,
I want to thank our witnesses for their very, very eloquent
statements and for their willingness to tell us in such
detail the difficulties that they have encountered and the
exploitation that they have experienced.
It is my understanding that Hu Shuye, you might be willing
to and able to, perhaps, proceed with some of your testimony.
If you could tell us, and be as brief as you would like, some
of the particulars about the government's coercive abortion
that they inflicted upon you at 6 months.
The Interpreter. She said she does not know how to speak,
so if you could ask questions, she will be able to answer.
Mr. Smith. When the government found you were pregnant,
what kind of means did they use to force you to undergo the
abortion?
The Interpreter. Let me explain for us, because Ms. Hu said
her Mandarin is not good enough to express herself.
Mr. Smith. Right. I remember that from earlier.
The Interpreter. So she is using her own dialect. And Ms.
Chen is translating her dialect to me, and I will translate
to you.
Mr. Smith. All right. Thank you.
Ms. Hu Shuye. They said--there were between 30 to 40 that
came to my home. And they said, since you have three
children, you have to have an abortion since you are now,
again, pregnant. So they dragged me to have an abortion.
Mr. Smith. Did they literally drag her?
Ms. Hu Shuye. There was a car, and these 30 to 40 people
dragged me onto the car and then drove away.
Mr. Smith. Prior to that, were there attempts to persuade
her to abort the child?
Ms. Hu Shuye. They did ask me to have this abortion. Then
since I was not willing to, they moved all my furniture,
whatever I had at home, to the government office.
I was forced to have an abortion in June when I was 6
months pregnant. And then in November, they came again to
force me to have sterilization.
I escaped in November. And in December, my mother-in-law
got cancer and passed away on December 17th. So I went home
to attend the funeral. And then on the 20th, the family
program office got to know that I was home; so they came and
dragged me away to have an abortion.
I was forced to have an abortion when I was 6 months
pregnant. And then after that, they wanted me to have
sterilization. So I escaped in November. And then in December
I went back for the funeral. And then I was forced to have
sterilization. And then after a few years, in 1989, the
family program office told me that, you have too many
children, you should be fined a certain amount of money.
Mr. Smith. So she was fined for the children that she had
is what you are saying.
You know, I would like to yield to Mr. Hyde. He has a
comment.
Mr. Hyde. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I wonder if I might ask both counsel to answer these
questions:
We have heard heart breaking stories of oppression and
torture and a denial of one of the primary human rights,
civil rights, namely, the right to have children. And I am
appalled at what I have heard.
But I am equally appalled at my own country at what state
these women find themselves in the ``Land of the Free,'' and
the ``Home of the Brave,'' ``Give me your Tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.''
I understand they are under arrest, they are under
manacles. Now, I well know that for years Soviet Jewish
people, who could get an exit visa, all came here as refugees
because by definition they were persecuted, being Jewish
people, in the Soviet Union. And they came here by the
thousands. And many of them did not have family here, and it
was not a question of reunification but under asylum. Because
they were persecuted, they were permitted to come in here.

Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], chairman of the Committee on
International Relations.
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this
time.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of H.R. 2570. I
want to commend the bill's authors, the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs.
Fowler], the gentleman from California [Mr. Cox] and the gentleman from
Illinois [Mr. Hyde], the distinguished chairman of the Committee on the
Judiciary, for bringing forward this important measure.
Mr. Speaker, we have no illusions about the Chinese regime and its
poor record on human rights. Among the many human rights violations
committed by the Chinese Government, one of the most despicable aspects
of Chinese policy is its one-child mandate and its provincial eugenics
policy. Under these policies, mothers are forced to abort their second
or third children and to allow the deaths of children suffering from
mental and other health problems. Government edicts are enforced
against the fathers, mothers and especially children of China with
countless victims in its wake. We must send a clear signal that we will
have nothing to do with this ``Brave New World.'' If America is to
stand for anything, it stands for the sanctity of the family and its
most basic rights.
While the central Chinese Government denies all of these charges, in
their command and control society the understandable goal of limiting
the growth of China's 1.3 billion person population is perverted into
commands by local governments and Communist Party cadres to force
abortions and the deaths of innocent infants, especially girls, to
enforce quotas and other measures to restrict population growth.
I note reports from Hebei Province officials who told workers that it
was ``better to have more graves than one more child.'' We cannot sit
idly by while this happens. This is a policy worthy of the
dictatorships of the Soviet Union or wartime Germany, not a nation
claiming to offer leadership in the 21st century.

{time} 1815

I note that the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal listed such actions as
crimes against humanity. China, our ally in World War II, is now the
No. 1 violator of that sanction.
Mr. Speaker, I am a strong supporter of voluntary family planning,
but I must say that there is nothing voluntary about China's program.
It is sad to note that in almost all of the other countries where
mothers and fathers have a choice, parents make their own decision to
have smaller families. The Chinese people are no different. If Chinese
parents actually had a choice, they would space their children farther
apart and, in the end, probably would reduce the size of their
families.
Regrettably the Chinese Government does not trust its people. The
government has inserted itself in the most basic of human decisions of
parents to have a child or to care for an impaired son or daughter.
Mr. Speaker, I heard countless reports from people who have suffered
under the Chinese Government. They came from all parts of China
speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, and even Tibetans who have suffered under
the one-child eugenics policy.
I commend my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Smith, and my colleague
from California, Ms. Pelosi, who joined with us in condemning these
abuses of the most basic human rights.
In sum, I strongly support this bill in its denial of U.S. visas to
the perpetrators of these crimes. Such people have no business in the
land of the free and the home of the brave, and I thank the gentlewoman
for bringing this measure to the floor, the gentlewoman from Florida
[Mrs. Fowler].
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
That is the end of our speakers, Mr. Speaker, and I would just like
to comment that we have heard from Members from a wide spectrum of
philosophies here today all united in support of this bill, so I would
urge my colleagues to cast their vote in favor of this bill.

[[Page H10147]]

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support for H.R.
2570, the Forced Abortion Condemnation Act. One of the most contentious
ongoing debates before Congress is whether or not a woman has a right
to choose abortion over life. But this debate is not about the right to
choose. This is about forcing a woman to undergo a dangerous procedure
without her consent. Regardless of whether you believe in the right to
life or the right to choose, we can all agree that this practice is
inhuman and barbaric. And one that we, as Americans, cannot and should
not condone.
H.R. 2570 denies visas to Chinese officials who carry out forced
abortion or sterilization procedures and condemns those in the Chinese
Communist Party and other Chinese nationals who oversee and enforce
this process. Forced abortion was officially deemed a crime against
humanity by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal after World War II. What
the Nazis did back then is no different then what is happening today in
China. China's population control methods of forced abortions and
sterilizations are not the way to control overpopulation in that
country. The practice holds grave implications for religious liberty
and basic human rights.
I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2570.
Mr. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the remainder of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gibbons). All time 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.
Mrs. FOWLER. 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 415,
nays 1, not voting 17, as follows:

[Roll No. 598]

YEAS--415

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Allen
Andrews
Archer
Armey
Bachus
Baesler
Baker
Baldacci
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett (NE)
Barrett (WI)
Bartlett
Barton
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berman
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
Clyburn
Coble
Coburn
Collins
Combest
Condit
Conyers
Cook
Cooksey
Costello
Cox
Coyne
Cramer
Crane
Crapo
Cummings
Cunningham
Danner
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (VA)
Deal
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
DeLay
Dellums
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Dicks
Dingell
Dixon
Doggett
Dooley
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
Engel
English
Ensign
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Everett
Ewing
Farr
Fattah
Fawell
Fazio
Filner
Flake
Foglietta
Foley
Forbes
Ford
Fossella
Fowler
Fox
Frank (MA)
Franks (NJ)
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Ganske
Gejdenson
Gekas
Gephardt
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Goode
Goodlatte
Goodling
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Green
Greenwood
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hamilton
Hansen
Harman
Hastert
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Hefley
Hefner
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Hooley
Horn
Hostettler
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Inglis
Istook
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (WI)
Johnson, E.B.
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kasich
Kelly
Kennedy (MA)
Kennedy (RI)
Kennelly
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kim
Kind (WI)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kleczka
Klink
Klug
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kucinich
LaFalce
LaHood
Lampson
Largent
Latham
Lazio
Leach
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
Livingston
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas
Luther
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Manton
Manzullo
Markey
Martinez
Mascara
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCrery
McDade
McDermott
McGovern
McHale
McHugh
McInnis
McIntosh
McIntyre
McKeon
McNulty
Meehan
Meek
Menendez
Metcalf
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller (CA)
Miller (FL)
Minge
Mink
Moakley
Mollohan
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Myrick
Nadler
Nethercutt
Neumann
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Oxley
Packard
Pallone
Pappas
Parker
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Paxon
Payne
Pease
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Poshard
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Redmond
Regula
Reyes
Riggs
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogan
Rogers
Rohrabacher
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Rush
Ryun
Sabo
Salmon
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sanford
Sawyer
Saxton
Scarborough
Schaefer, Dan
Schaffer, Bob
Schumer
Scott
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuster
Sisisky
Skaggs
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (OR)
Smith (TX)
Smith, Adam
Smith, Linda
Snowbarger
Snyder
Solomon
Souder
Spence
Spratt
Stabenow
Stark
Stearns
Stenholm
Stokes
Strickland
Stump
Stupak
Sununu
Talent
Tanner
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thompson
Thornberry
Thune
Thurman
Tiahrt
Tierney
Torres
Towns
Traficant
Turner
Upton
Velazquez
Vento
Visclosky
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watkins
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Wexler
Weygand
White
Whitfield
Wicker
Wise
Wolf
Woolsey
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

NAYS--1

Brown (CA)

NOT VOTING--17

Bateman
Carson
Clay
Cubin
Furse
Gonzalez
Lantos
LaTourette
McKinney
Neal
Pickett
Riley
Ros-Lehtinen
Schiff
Tauscher
Waxman
Yates

{time} 1840

Mr. FLAKE changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

____________________