[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 29, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE CHINESE CROCODILE

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, the Chinese attack on the Christian faith 
continues. For 60 days, the Chinese Government has held Shi Weiham, a 
Christian bookstore owner, in secret detention for praying.
  As China readies for the 2008 Summer Olympics, it is trying to 
convince critics that it embraces religious freedom. But China is 
secretly moving religious believers to the dark, damp, hidden hideaway 
of jail.
  China restricts all religious practice to state-sanctioned churches 
and certain places of worship. So Chinese don't dare pray or worship 
anywhere else, or off to jail they go. That is what happened to Shi 
Weiham.
  China's religious tolerance is a public relations campaign draped in 
hypocrisy. China arrests thousands of Christians, Muslims, and 
Buddhists each year.
  As religion is being attacked across atheistic Communist China, we 
should recall Winston Churchill's words about communism: ``A communist 
is like a crocodile, when it opens its mouth, you cannot tell whether 
it is trying to smile or preparing to eat you up.'' The Chinese 
crocodile is devouring religious freedom among its people.
  And that's just the way it is.

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