[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 105 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9350-S9353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.


                           Amendment No. 2964

(Purpose: To provide for improved monitoring of human rights violations 
       in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes)

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 2964 and ask 
for its immediate consideration, and I ask unanimous consent Senator 
Hutchinson from Arkansas be added as a cosponsor to the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The clerk will report the amendment.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Michigan [Mr. Abraham], for himself and 
     Mr. Hutchinson proposes an amendment numbered 2964.

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       Add at the end the following new titles:

          TITLE  --MONITORING OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN CHINA

     SEC.   . SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Political Freedom in China 
     Act of 1998''.

     SEC.   . FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Congress concurs in the following conclusions of the 
     United States State Department on human rights in the 
     People's Republic of China in 1996:
       (A) The People's Republic of China is ``an authoritarian 
     state'' in which ``citizens lack the freedom to peacefully 
     express opposition to the party-led political system and the 
     right to change their national leaders or form of 
     government''.
       (B) The Government of the People's Republic of China has 
     ``continued to commit widespread and well-documented human 
     rights abuses, in violation of internationally accepted 
     norms, stemming from the authorities' intolerance of dissent, 
     fear of unrest, and the absence or inadequacy of laws 
     protecting basic freedoms''.
       (C) ``[a]buses include torture and mistreatment of 
     prisoners, forced confessions, and arbitrary and 
     incommunicado detention''.
       (D) ``[p]rison conditions remained harsh [and] [t]he 
     Government continued severe restrictions on freedom of 
     speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, 
     and worker rights''.
       (E) ``[a]lthough the Government denies that it holds 
     political prisoners, the number of persons detained or 
     serving sentences for `counterrevolutionary crimes' or 
     `crimes against the state', or for peaceful political or 
     religious activities are believed to number in the 
     thousands''.
       (F) ``[n]onapproved religious groups, including Protestant 
     and Catholic groups . . . experienced intensified 
     repression''.
       (G) ``[s]erious human rights abuses persist in minority 
     areas, including Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia[, and] 
     [c]ontrols on religion and on other fundamental freedoms in 
     these areas have also intensified''.
       (H) ``[o]verall in 1996, the authorities stepped up efforts 
     to cut off expressions of protest or criticism. All public 
     dissent against the party and government was effectively 
     silenced by intimidation, exile, the imposition of prison 
     terms, administrative detention, or house arrest. No 
     dissidents were known to be active at year's end.''.
       (2) In addition to the State Department, credible 
     independent human rights organizations have documented an 
     increase in repression in China during 1995, and effective 
     destruction of the dissident movement through the arrest and 
     sentencing of the few remaining pro-democracy and human 
     rights activists not already in prison or exile.
       (3) Among those were Li Hai, sentenced to 9 years in prison 
     on December 18, 1996, for gathering information on the 
     victims of the 1989 crackdown, which according to the court's 
     verdict constituted ``state secrets''; Liu Nianchun, an 
     independent labor organizer, sentenced to 3 years of ``re-
     education through labor'' on July 4, 1996, due to his 
     activities in connection with a petition campaign calling for 
     human rights reforms; and Ngodrup Phuntsog, a Tibetan 
     national, who was arrested in Tibet in 1987 immediately after 
     he returned from a 2-year trip to India, where the Tibetan 
     government in exile is located, and following a secret trial 
     was convicted by the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China of espionage on behalf of the ``Ministry of Security of 
     the Dalai clique''.
       (4) Many political prisoners are suffering from poor 
     conditions and ill-treatment leading to serious medical and 
     health problems, including--
       (A) Gao Yu, a journalist sentenced to 6 years in prison in 
     November 1994 and honored by UNESCO in May 1997, has a heart 
     condition; and
       (B) Chen Longde, a leading human rights advocate now 
     serving a 3-year reeducation through labor sentence imposed 
     without trial in August 1995, has reportedly been subject to 
     repeated beatings and electric shocks at a labor camp for 
     refusing to confess his guilt.
       (5) The People's Republic of China, as a member of the 
     United Nations, is expected to abide by the provisions of the 
     Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
       (6) The People's Republic of China is a party to numerous 
     international human rights conventions, including the 
     Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
     Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

     SEC.   . CONDUCT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS.

       (a) Release of Prisoners: The Secretary of State, in all 
     official meetings with the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China, should request the immediate and 
     unconditional release of Ngodrup Phuntsog and other prisoners 
     of conscience in Tibet, as well as in the People's Republic 
     of China.
       (b) Access to Prisons: The Secretary of State should seek 
     access for international humanitarian organizations to 
     Drapchi prison and other prisons in Tibet, as well as in the 
     People's Republic of China, to ensure that prisoners are not 
     being mistreated and are receiving necessary medical 
     treatment.
       (c) Dialogue on Future of Tibet: The Secretary of State, in 
     all official meetings with the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China, should call on that country to begin 
     serious discussions with the Dalai Lama or his 
     representives, without preconditions, on the future of 
     Tibet.

     SEC.  . AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL 
                   PERSONNEL AT DIPLOMATIC POSTS TO MONITOR HUMAN 
                   RIGHTS IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to support 
     personnel to monitor political repression in the People's 
     Republic of China in the United States Embassies in Beijing 
     and Kathmandu, as well as the American consulates in 
     Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu, and Hong Kong, 
     $2,200,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $2,200,000 for fiscal 
     year 2000.

     SEC.  . DEMOCRACY BUILDING IN CHINA.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations for NED.--In addition 
     to such sums as are otherwise authorized to be approprited 
     for the ``National Endowment for Democracy'' for fiscal years 
     1999 and 2000, there are authorized for the ``National 
     Endowment for Democracy'' $4,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and 
     $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, which shall be available to 
     promote democracy, civil society, and the development of the 
     rule of law in China.
       (b) East Asia-Pacific Regional Democracy Fund.--The 
     Secretary of State shall use funds available in the East 
     Asia-Pacific Regional Democracy Fund to provide grants to 
     nongovernmental organizations to promote democracy, civil 
     society, and the development of the rule of law in China.

     SEC.  . HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA.

       (a) Reports.--Not later than March 30, 1999, and each 
     subsequent year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall 
     submit to the International Relations Committee of the House 
     of Representatives and the Foreign

[[Page S9351]]

     Relations Committee of the Senate an annual report on human 
     rights in China, including religious persecution, the 
     development of democratic institutions, and the rule of law. 
     Reports shall provide information on each region in China.
       (b) Prisoner Information Registry.--The Secretary of State 
     shall establish a Prisoner Information Registry for China 
     which shall provide information on all political prisoners, 
     prisoners of conscience, and prisoners of faith in China. 
     Such information shall include the charges, judicial 
     processes, adminstrative actions, use of forced labor, 
     incidences of tortue, length of imprisonment, physical and 
     health conditions, and other matters related to the 
     incarceration of such prisoners in China. The Secretary of 
     State is authorized to make funds available to 
     nongovernmental organizations presently engaged in monitoring 
     activities regarding Chinese political prisoners to assist in 
     the creation and maintenance of the registry.

     SEC.  . SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING ESTABLISHMENT OF A 
                   COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN ASIA.

       It is the sense of Congress that Congress, the President, 
     and the Secretary of State should work with the governments 
     of other countries to establish a Commission on Security and 
     Cooperation in Asia which would be modeled after the 
     Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

     SEC.  . SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEMOCRACY IN HONG KONG.

       It is the sense of Congress that the people of Hong Kong 
     should continue to have the right and ability to freely elect 
     their legislative representatives, and that the procedure for 
     the conduct of the elections of the legislature of the Hong 
     Kong Special Administrative Region should be determined by 
     the people of Hong Kong through an election law convention, a 
     referendum, or both.

     SEC.  . SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO ORGAN HARVESTING AND 
                   TRANSPLANTING IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF 
                   CHINA.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China should 
     stop the practice of harvesting and transplanting organs for 
     profit from prisoners that it executes;
       (2) the Government of the People's Republic of China should 
     be strongly condemned for such organ harvesting and 
     transplanting practice;
       (3) the President should bar from entry into the United 
     States any and all officials of the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China known to be directly involved in 
     such organ harvesting and transplanting practice;
       (4) individuals determined to be participating in or 
     otherwise facilitating the sale of such organs in the United 
     States should be prosecuted to the fullest possible extent of 
     the law; and
       (5) the appropriate officials in the United States should 
     interview individuals, including doctors, who may have 
     knowledge of such organ harvesting and transplanting 
     practice.

  Mr. President, let me speak a little bit about this amendment. I 
don't intend to take up too much of the Senate's time discussing it, 
because I know other Senators, including Senator Hutchinson, are 
interested in speaking as well to the amendment.
  Essentially, this amendment sets forth concrete steps by which the 
United States would support the improvement of human rights in the 
People's Republic of China. Its provisions regarding human rights are 
identical to those included in the legislation that was recently passed 
by the other Chamber by an overwhelming vote of 394-29.
  The amendment I am offering is based on the recognition that the 
United States can conduct meaningful engagement with China only if we 
are honest with Chinese leaders, and only if we are willing to stand up 
for our principles. And chief among the principles on which our nation 
was founded is an abiding commitment to fundamental human rights.
  The current regime in China suppresses fundamental human rights on a 
daily basis:
  Women pregnant with their second or third child are pressured to have 
abortions and even subjected to forced abortion and sterilization.
  Religious exercise is violently suppressed among Christians in China, 
and among indigenous Buddhists in Tibet.
  Proponents of democracy and human rights are imprisoned under 
inhumane conditions and often denied necessary medical treatment.
  I could go on, Mr. President. The list of human rights abuses in 
China is as long as it is deplorable.
  Let no one in this body be mistaken, the current Chinese regime does 
not respect fundamental human rights.
  The question I think we have to ask is, Should that influence how 
American policy toward China is shaped? Obviously, there are some who 
say the only way for us to change those policies in China is to have a 
complete and total engagement with the People's Republic of China. 
Obviously, that is one point of view. But I subscribe to the view that 
we can take constructive steps designed to try to change things and to 
try to make things more consistent with America's views of appropriate 
human rights behavior.
  And the Chinese regime's recent conduct gives us no reason to expect 
improvement any time soon. Indeed, Mr. President, since President 
Clinton returned from his trip to China this June, that government has 
detained 21 prominent human rights activists. At least three remain in 
custody today.
  Through this amendment, Mr. President, we would make clear to the 
Chinese government our opposition to its oppressive practices and 
initiate concrete steps by which we can monitor human rights abuses and 
assist those seeking to promote human dignity and civil society.
  Among the provisions in this amendment: First, it contains findings 
detailing the deplorable human rights record of the Chinese government. 
Second, the amendment calls for greater efforts on the part of our 
Secretary of State to improve the behavior of the current Chinese 
regime:
  It calls on the Secretary of State, during official meetings with the 
Chinese government, to call for the release of political prisoners in 
China and Tibet.
  The amendment also calls on the Secretary of State to seek greater 
access for international humanitarian organizations to prisons in Tibet 
and China--access that will ensure that prisoners are not being 
mistreated and that they are receiving necessary medical treatment.
  And the amendment calls on the Secretary of State, during official 
meetings, to request that China begin serious discussions with the 
Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, on the future 
of Tibet.
  Third, the amendment authorizes funding for several programs intended 
to improve human rights conditions in China. These include: $2.2 
million in 1999 and 2000 for additional personnel at diplomatic posts 
to monitor human rights in China; $4 million in 1999 and 2000 for the 
National Endowment for Democracy to promote democracy, civil society, 
and the development of the rule of law in China, and permission for 
funds in the East Asia-Pacific Regional Democracy Fund to be used to 
provide grants to nongovernmental organizations to promote democracy, 
civil society, and the development of the rule of law in China.
  Fifth, the amendment contains provisions aimed at improving our 
monitoring of human rights in China.
  These include: A call for preparation of an annual report on human 
rights, religious persecution, and the development of democratic 
institutions and the rule of law in China that includes specific 
information on each region, and establishment within the State 
Department of a Prisoner Information Registry for China to provide 
information on all political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and 
prisoners of faith in China.
  Finally, this amendment includes several sense of Congress 
resolutions, including: A sense-of-the-Congress resolution concerning 
the establishment of a Commission on Security and Cooperation in Asia; 
A resolution concerning democracy in Hong Kong; and a resolution 
condemning organ harvesting and transplantation for profit from 
prisoners executed by the Chinese government.
  Mr. President, these provisions will make clear our determination to 
stand up for the fundamental human rights of the Chinese people.
  As the world's first free nation, and the continuing leader of the 
free world, we have a responsibility, in my view, to defend people's 
basic rights wherever they are endangered or violated.
  We cannot, without undermining freedom in our own nation, turn our 
backs on those who suffer oppression in China, or in any other nation.
  Our principles as well as our national interest demand that we pursue 
meaningful engagement with the current government in China. And that 
requires, at a minimum, an open discussion of human rights abuses and 
concrete steps aimed at bringing those abuses to an end.

[[Page S9352]]

  These amendments will not destroy our current relationship with 
China. None of the amendment's supporters seek an isolationist policy. 
I for one support normal trade relations with China because I see them 
as a necessary element of effective engagement.
  But this amendment serves an important function in our effort to 
achieve and maintain meaningful engagement with China. it signals this 
Congress' continuing concerns for human rights, democracy, and freedom 
in China. It signals our determination to speak up and support the 
fundamental principles of civilized society.
  Through this amendment we can stand with oppressed people of 
conscience in China, for our sake as well as theirs.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. INOUYE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii is recognized.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Abraham 
amendment 2964 to the Defense appropriations bill. The Abraham 
amendment would authorize additional human rights monitors at the 
embassy in Beijing, China, as well as our other consulates around 
China. I think it is exceptionally warranted. It is very, very much 
needed.
  The Chinese Government has repeatedly flaunted its lack of respect 
for human rights. We have seen how the Government controls its people 
through registration, through coercive and repressive practices. We 
have seen how the Chinese Government punishes those who would dare to 
worship by the dictates of their conscience. We have seen how the 
Government punishes those who would speak in the name of democracy, 
those who would seek to register an opposition political party. They 
punish those who simply seek to fulfill normal human aspirations, 
aspirations that we too often take for granted.
  We have seen that in the last two, at least the last two annual State 
Department reports on human rights that China was found to be one of, 
if not the worst human rights abuser in the world today. I think that 
fact alone, the fact that our State Department, in monitoring the 
countries of the world, the nations of the world, issuing reports on 
human rights conditions in the various nations of the world, found 
China as the greatest abuser of human rights justifies the Abraham 
amendment in establishing additional human rights monitors, additional 
personnel in the embassy to monitor situations like this: ``Chinese 
Resume Arrests,'' so that we will have the kind of knowledge about what 
is going on in the area of human rights within China that will allow us 
to, I think, engage China in the correct way.
  Mr. President, we do not expect that China will change overnight, nor 
do we expect that the amendment that I have offered dealing with forced 
abortions and religious persecution, or the amendment that Senator 
Abraham has offered will magically produce the change that we all 
desire. But it is essential that we shed light on the kind of human 
rights abuses, the dark practices that have become too evident for too 
many years. And it is essential that we engage those abuses with a 
substantive response.
  This is part of that substantive response. The question before us is 
not whether we contain and isolate China. We cannot do that. We should 
not do that. We would not want to do that. The question before us is 
whether or not we will engage them on issues of human rights, as well 
as trade, as well as national security issues, whether we will actually 
engage them, and in so doing support the cause of freedom.
  Frankly, I am puzzled by those who would excuse themselves and pardon 
themselves by saying that they, too, are opposed to the human rights 
abuses in China but then would oppose any effort to have a substantive 
response to those human rights abuses.
  So I believe that this is not only a well-intended but a well-drafted 
amendment. It is, once again, part of the package that passed in the 
House of Representatives now almost a year ago with overwhelming 
bipartisan support, and it is long past time for the Senate to weigh in 
on that; to support the monitoring of human rights abuses in China, as 
we seek to do throughout the world; to give the kinds of personnel to 
our State Department, to our diplomatic people to assure that we have 
the best intelligence, the best reporting possible.
  It is, I think, evident that this is needed in light of this latest 
round of arrests of political dissidents in China. It is puzzling to me 
that we can talk about the great improvement in China and the reforms 
that are taking place, and that this administration could put so much 
faith in President Jiang and his regime in Beijing when all of the 
evidence that is forthcoming, whether it is in the media, through our 
intelligence agencies, or the State Department itself indicates that, 
in fact, those abuses are as bad as ever, and that the crackdown on 
religious believers is now only most recently exceeded by the crackdown 
on political dissidents. I do believe, as the President has expressed, 
that eventually China will be free. I believe that. I think someday 
China will be a country in which free expression is tolerated and the 
freedoms that are not American values, but are fundamental human 
values, will exist in China. But I think it will not be through the 
regime that rules with an iron fist in Beijing, China, today. So, let 
us engage, but let us engage thoroughly and on all fronts.

  The package of amendments that is before the Senate today will enable 
us to do that. So it is essential that we not table the China 
amendments, that we support them, that we agree to them as part of the 
appropriations bill. I believe, because the House passed these measures 
by such an overwhelming vote, they will be preserved in the conference 
and we will be able to give the President an opportunity to truly 
involve this administration in an engagement policy that will reflect 
the values that are precious to us and help to bring about the change 
that we desire to see in China and to give support to the freedom 
fighters, freedom lovers in China today who risk the limited freedom 
that they have to go about their daily activities by speaking out, by 
seeking to form an opposition political party, by seeking to worship 
according to the dictates of their conscience.
  I think it is so imperative that we go on record with these 
amendments, to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are putting 
their lives and their limited liberty at stake by taking a far more 
dangerous stand there, in China, today.
  I applaud Senator Abraham for bringing the human rights monitors 
amendment to the floor of the Senate, and I look forward to casting my 
vote against tabling and for the amendment. I ask my colleagues to do 
likewise.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brownback). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                         Privilege of the Floor

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Matthew 
Tourville, who is an intern in my office, be granted the privilege of 
the floor while we debate and vote on this bill today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S9353]]



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