[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 49 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E582-E583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      ON H. RES. 91 AND H. RES. 56

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to speak on the 
floor yesterday when

[[Page E583]]

the resolutions on the human rights situation in China and Tibet and in 
Cuba were debated. I was attending a funeral in my district and on an 
official leave of absence.
  I am an original co-sponsor of both of these resolutions and I am 
pleased that both were considered by the House.
  Given the events in China this past week, it is important that the 
House adopted H. Res. 56 which expresses the sense of the House urging 
the appropriate representative of the U.S. to the United Nations 
Commission on Human Rights to introduce at the annual meeting in Geneva 
of the commission a resolution calling upon the People's Republic of 
China (PRC) to end its human rights violations in China and Tibet.
  Mr. Speaker, we can look to the China section of the 2000 State 
Department's Annual Report on Human Rights to see the deplorable human 
rights record of the PRC: ``The Government's poor human rights record 
worsened, and it continued to commit serious abuses.'' This same human 
rights report says that the ``PRC is an authoritative state . . . 
[that] frequently interfere [s] in the judicial process, and the Party 
and the Government direct verdicts in many high-profile cases.
  It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. 
because it is the right thing to do in the face of China's alarming 
human rights record as described further in the State Department human 
rights report:

       . . . thousands of Falun Gong practitioners . . . were 
     sentenced to re-education through-labor camps or incarcerated 
     in mental institutions . . .
       The government continued to commit widespread and well-
     documented human rights abuses . . . [such as] extrajudicial 
     killings, the use of torture, forced confessions, arbitrary 
     arrest and detention, the mistreatment of prisoners, lengthy 
     incommunicado and denial of due process . . .
       . . . 100 or more Falun Gong practitioners died as a result 
     of torture and mistreatment in custody''
       The Government's respect for religious freedom deteriorated 
     markedly . . . as the Government conducted crackdowns against 
     underground Christian groups and Tibetan Buddhists and 
     destroyed many houses of worship.

  It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. 
in light of China's detainment of 24 U.S. service personnel attached to 
the U.S. EP-3E aircraft. China's behavior throughout this incident 
should make the true nature of the Chinese Government clear-- the 
regime in Beijing will abuse the rights of anyone, even U.S. service 
personnel who have to make an emergency landing on Chinese territory.
  It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. 
in light of the fact that China has arrested a U.S. citizen, professor 
Li Shaomin. Professor Li has been detained by Chinese authorities since 
February 25. Professor Li's wife does not know why her husband has been 
detained.
  It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. 
in light of the fact that China has detained and charged Ms. Gao Zhan, 
a permanent resident of the U.S. who lives in my congressional 
district. Ms. Gao is married to a U.S. citizen and is the mother of a 
U.S. citizen.
  After detaining her husband Xue Donhua (now a U.S. citizen) and their 
5-year old son Andrew (a U.S. citizen) for over a month, the government 
of China has now charged Ms. Gao Zhan with spying. I have met Mr. Xue 
and his son Andrew and talked about their incarceration. They are a 
wonderful family. Yet, Andrew was taken away and held separately from 
his parents for over a month. Andrew needs a mother and needs to be 
with his mother. What kind of government would separate a family like 
this? What kind of government would put a 5-year old child through this 
kind of ordeal?
  Similarly, H. Res. 56 instructs the U.S. delegation at the U.N. Human 
Rights Commission in Geneva to obtain passage of a resolution 
condemning the Government of Cuba for its human rights abuses. As this 
resolution states, ``the Castro regime systematically violates all of 
the fundamental civil and political rights of the Cuban people, denying 
freedoms of speech, press, assembly, movement, religion, and 
association, the right to change their government and the right to due 
process and fair trials.''
  It is no accident that both the Cuban and Chinese governments are 
serious violators of religious freedom. As both Cuba and China are 
authoritarian regimes, nothing is more threatening to them than people 
of faith and conviction who are capable and willing to speak truth to 
power.
  I am proud to co-sponsor both of these resolutions because the U.S. 
needs to be on the side of pursuing justice and of speaking truth to 
power. I am hopeful that the U.S. will lead in the efforts in Geneva to 
speak truth to the authoritarian regimes of Cuba and China.

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