[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1476-H1478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING PERSECUTION OF FALUN GONG
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 605) recognizing the continued persecution of Falun
Gong practitioners in China on the 10th anniversary of the Chinese
Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spiritual movement
and calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute,
intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 605
Whereas Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual
discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992, which consists of
spiritual, religious, and moral teachings for daily life,
meditation, and exercise, based upon the principles of
truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance;
Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the
Congressional-Executive Commission on China, ``tens of
millions of Chinese citizens practiced Falun Gong in the
1990s and adherents to the spiritual movement inside of China
are estimated to still number in the hundreds of thousands
despite the government's ongoing crackdown,'' and other
estimates published in Western press place the number of
Falun Gong adherents currently in China at the tens of
millions;
Whereas in 1996, Falun Gong books were banned in China and
state media began a campaign criticizing Falun Gong;
Whereas in 1999, Chinese police began disrupting Falun Gong
morning exercises in public parks and began searching the
homes of Falun Gong practitioners;
Whereas on April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong
practitioners gathered outside the State Council Office of
Petitions in Beijing, next to the Communist Party leadership
compound, to request that arrested Falun Gong practitioners
be released, the ban on publication of Falun Gong books be
lifted, and that Falun Gong practitioners be allowed to
resume their activities without government interference;
Whereas on the same day, immediately after then-Premier Zhu
Rongji met with Falun Gong representatives in his office and
agreed to the release of arrested practitioners, Communist
Party Chairman Jiang Zemin criticized Zhu's actions and
ordered a crackdown on Falun Gong;
Whereas in June 1999, Jiang Zemin ordered the creation of
the 6-10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus, given
the mandate to ``eradicate'' Falun Gong;
Whereas in July 1999, Chinese police began arresting
leading Falun Gong practitioners;
Whereas on July 22, 1999, Chinese state media began a major
propaganda campaign to ban Falun Gong for ``disturbing social
order'' and warning Chinese citizens that the practice of
Falun Gong was forbidden;
Whereas in October 1999, Party Chairman Jiang Zemin,
according to western press articles, ``ordered that Falun
Gong be branded as a `cult', and then demanded that a law be
passed banning cults'';
Whereas Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and
resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing
false propaganda claiming that Falun Gong is a suicidal and
militant ``evil cult'' rather than a spiritual movement which
draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and
exercise;
Whereas on October 10, 2004, the House of Representatives
adopted by voice vote House Concurrent Resolution 304, which
had 75 bipartisan co-sponsors, titled ``Expressing the sense
of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the
People's Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States
and in China,'' and that the text of this resolution noted
that ``the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence
the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups
inside the United States'';
Whereas, on October 18, 2005, highly respected human rights
attorney Gao Zhisheng wrote a letter to Chinese Communist
Party Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao calling for
an end to the persecution of Falun Gong and Chinese
authorities, in response, closed his law office and took away
his law license, with Chinese security forces suspected of
being directly involved in Mr. Gao's disappearance on
February 4, 2009;
Whereas Gao Zhisheng's family has subsequently been granted
political asylum in the United States;
Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture in its
fourth periodic report of China, issued on December 12, 2008,
stated that ``The State party should immediately conduct or
commission an independent investigation of the claims that
some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture
and used for organ transplants and take measures, as
appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses
are prosecuted and punished.'';
Whereas the Amnesty International 2008 annual report states
that ``Falun Gong practitioners were at particularly high
risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention . . .
during the year 2007 over 100 Falun Gong practitioners were
reported to have died in detention or shortly after release
as a result of torture, denial of food or medical treatment,
and other forms of ill-treatment.'';
Whereas according to the 2008 Department of State's Human
Rights Report on China, ``Some foreign observers estimated
that Falun Gong adherents constituted at least half of the
250,000 officially recorded inmates in re-education through
labor (RTL) camps, while Falun Gong sources overseas placed
the number even higher.'';
Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the
Congressional-Executive Commission on China, ``The (Chinese)
central government intensified its nine-year campaign of
persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in the months
leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.'';
Whereas Falun Gong-related websites remain among the most
systematically and hermetically blocked by China's Internet
firewall; and
Whereas, according to an April 2009 New York Times report,
``In the past year, as many as 8,000 (Falun Gong)
practitioners have been detained, according to experts on
human rights, and at least 100 have died in custody'': Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and
their family members who have suffered persecution,
intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the
past decade solely because of adherence to their personal
beliefs;
(2) calls upon the Government of the People's Republic of
China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to
persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong
practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6-10 office, an
extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to
``eradicate'' Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun
Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from
prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including
those practitioners who are the relatives of United States
citizens and permanent residents; and
(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to
mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of
the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and
effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those
practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their
personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong
practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that
support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental
principle of the United States Government.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Watson) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution,
and yield myself such time as I may consume.
[[Page H1477]]
This resolution recognizes the continued persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners in China on the 11th anniversary of the government
crackdown on the spiritual movement. I would like to thank my friend,
the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the ranking member of
the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, for introducing this
legislation and for her dedication to this issue.
Since 1999, the Chinese government has undertaken a harsh campaign of
suppression against the Falun Gong movement, banning its presence in
China and banning it as an ``illegal cult.'' According to the 2009
annual report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China,
Chinese authorities ``conducted propaganda campaigns that deride Falun
Gong, carried out strict surveillance of practitioners, detained and
imprisoned large numbers of practitioners, and subjected some who
refused to disavow Falun Gong to torture and other abuses in
reeducation through labor facilities.'' According to the State
Department's latest human rights report on China, the Falun Gong's core
leadership was ``singled out for particularly harsh treatment,'' and
simply believing in the discipline--without publicly practicing any of
its tenets--was enough for practitioners to be punished or imprisoned.
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement combining meditation and breathing
exercises, with a doctrine loosely rooted in Buddhist and Daoist
teachings. The Chinese government banned the group's existence and its
practices in 1999, after thousands of practitioners gathered in Beijing
to protest the government's restrictions on the group's activities.
Chinese authorities are obsessed with eradicating the group because
they believe it could pose a challenge to one-party rule and has the
potential to generate social unrest and instability.
This resolution calls upon the Chinese government to immediately end
its decade-long campaign to prosecute, intimidate, and imprison Falun
Gong practitioners solely because of their personal beliefs. It also
calls on China to release those practitioners being held in prisons and
labor camps throughout the country. Finally, this resolution expresses
sympathy to Falun Gong followers and their family members for the
suffering that has been inflicted on them at the hands of the Chinese
government.
I strongly support this resolution, and urge my colleagues to do the
same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
It is a delight to work with my wonderful colleague from California,
Ambassador Watson. We greatly regret that she will be retiring from the
halls of Congress, but we look forward to working with her in another
capacity.
I am proud to rise, Mr. Speaker, as the author of this resolution,
which addresses one of the most flagrant examples of systematic
persecution against a particular group currently taking place. The
Chinese Communist regime's obsessive and relentless hunting down of
Falun Gong practitioners, which is a spiritual discipline based on
truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, says a great deal about the
insecurity and the paranoia of the current rulers in Beijing.
While this resolution gives a detailed accounting from authoritative
international sources of the last 11 years of Beijing's bloody
crackdown on Falun Gong, there are two particular areas, Mr. Speaker,
which I would like to address in greater detail. First is the issue of
the penetration of agents of an alien Communist regime right here
inside the United States to wage a campaign of repression against U.S.
citizens. And, second, is the issue of coercive organ transplants
involving a ``bloody harvest'' from Falun Gong practitioners inside
China.
How could one believe that diplomats of a foreign regime would
collude with secret agents and thugs to suppress the constitutional
right of our fellow citizens right here in America? Well, Mr. Speaker,
clear evidence indicates that that is exactly what is happening with
Chinese agents persecuting American Falun Gong practitioners in our own
country.
Just ask Bill Fang, who was assaulted on the streets of Chicago back
in 2001, as he was peacefully demonstrating in front of the Chinese
consulate. That assault led to a criminal conviction in the Circuit
Court of Cook County. Or, just ask Judy Chen, the proud mother of two
United States Marines then serving in Iraq, who was manhandled in May
of 2008 by thugs with reported Chinese regime ties while she was
handing out Falun Gong literature in front of a public library in
Flushing, New York.
{time} 1615
It is high time for our State Department to get tough and to let the
Chinese regime know that any of its staff members who engage in
activities in the U.S. incompatible with their diplomatic status,
including encouraging such illegal acts, are persona non grata in the
United States.
On the issue of organ transplants, Mr. Speaker, it should be noted
that this resolution cites the recommendation of the U.N. Committee on
Torture, calling for an independent investigation ``into the claims
that some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and
used for organ transplants.''
I would like to further point out that expert testimony given before
a subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs Committee appears to corroborate
the charges of coercive organ transplants in China. A hearing was held
before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on September
29, 2006, entitled ``Falun Gong: Organ Harvesting and China's Ongoing
War on Human Rights.'' Committee witness Kirk Allison, Ph.D. of the
University of Minnesota testified: ``In my meeting with practitioners
in June 2006, evidence included transcripts of queries to identified
hospitals and physicians on organ availability. Falun Gong sources were
characterized as being of high quality and often available in as short
a time as a week, and in some cases with a guarantee of a backup organ
should the first fail.''
The systematic killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs
is almost too ghoulish to imagine. It seems incomprehensible that in
the 21st century such barbaric acts could occur, a cruelty comparable
to imperial Romans throwing Christian martyrs to be eaten by lions. The
stark reality which this resolution addresses gives new meaning to the
phrase ``butchers of Beijing.'' The Beijing regime of today engages in
the barbaric repression of some of its own people simply because they
seek to practice a peaceful spiritual discipline. Several hundred have
reportedly died, and hundreds of thousands remain in detention in
reeducation through labor camps. How can anyone seriously call these
the actions of a responsible stakeholder? I strongly and
enthusiastically urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from California, Representative Lynn Woolsey,
chairwoman of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce
Protections and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Ms. WOOLSEY. First of all, I would like to thank the two women who
are here bringing this resolution to the House floor. It's so very
important. I rise today in support of H. Res. 605, a resolution
recognizing the continuing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in
China.
In 2002, Mr. Speaker, I authored a resolution expressing the sense of
the Congress regarding the Chinese Government's oppression of Falun
Gong in the United States and in the People's Republic of China. Sadly,
8 years later, the persecution continues. People are being sent to
jail, to work camps and are assaulted for their practice of Falun Gong.
China has claimed that the Falun Gong practitioners are ``disturbing
social order'' and have labeled the practice an evil cult.
International media reports have found that over 100 Falun Gong
followers have died in the custody of the Chinese Government. All
people, even those in China, have the internationally recognized
freedoms of association and religion. The Chinese Government must put a
stop to this inhumane persecution. I urge my colleagues, stand up for
human rights and vote ``yes'' on this resolution, H. Res. 605.
[[Page H1478]]
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.
Res. 605, defending the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners,
savagely persecuted by the Chinese government, and thank my good friend
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for introducing this resolution.
On the tenth anniversary of the Falun Gong's inspiring silent protest
at Zhongnanhai many people still do not understand the savagery of the
Mao-style campaign which the Communist Party unleashed in 1999.
The story of a typical Falun Gong arrest is horrific: first the
government beats them, later it tortures them, molesting and sometimes
raping women, sends them to forced labor camps and then brainwashing
classes, all the while a high-profile publicity campaign defames and
humiliates them. And it has been documented that it has killed at least
3,000 of the Falun Gong.
Members of Falun Gong will not pretend to accept Marxism-Leninism,
and so the government brands them an ``evil cult.'' They practice non-
violence, and the government assaults them with cattle prods. Their
hearts are remarkably serene, and so the government engages in
psychiatric torture.
The Falun Gong are one of a wide array of religious faiths and
spiritual groups in China, yet members of Falun Gong are the majority
of all reported cases of torture and half of China's labor camp
population--well over one hundred thousand of them.
Many of the Falun Gong have fled to America, and the government has
followed them here, cyber-attacking their American Web sites,
installing agents in their midst, and raising crowds to harass and beat
them, as happened last year in New York.
Mr. Speaker, one of the invaluable things about this resolution is
that it officially documents this Chinese-government sponsored violence
on American soil, exercised against American citizens.
We need to learn more about whether our government is doing
everything it can to protect the Falun Gong here in America.
I was in China last July, trying to visit human rights activists in
the run-up to the Olympics. I remember going into an Internet cafe and
trying to look up Falun Gong. You know the story: nothing. Search
engines had been doctored. I wonder, if I were not a U.S. Congressman,
would that search have gotten me identified, tracked, and tortured?
After all, even foreign journalists who ask about Falun Gong have been
arrested, and some have been beaten.
And would U.S. companies have been involved in identifying me? Sadly,
we know it for a well-documented fact, from a six-hour hearing I held
in 2006, that some leading U.S. IT companies are involved in censoring
the Chinese Internet and turn over personally identifying information
to the Chinese Internet police, making it possible to track and
imprison dissidents.
I mention this because many members of Falun Gong are great heroes of
Internet freedom. Several members have come to my office and
demonstrated how they help millions of Chinese men and women break the
so-called ``Great Firewall of China'' with which the Chinese government
tries to cut its citizens off from the global Internet.
Mr. Speaker, Falun Gong practitioners have been great witnesses of
courage and peace. Again I thank Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for introducing this
resolution.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 605,
which condemns the Chinese government's targeted, persistent and
egregious persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. This resolution was
introduced last year to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the
Chinese Communist Party's campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spiritual
movement. Sadly, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and anyone
associated with them, including lawyers who try to defend their human
rights, continues today.
Since 1999, 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been sentenced to
prison, over 100,000 were sentenced to re-education through labor
camps, and at least 3,000 died while in police custody. They have been
sent to special high security psychiatric hospitals for the
``criminally insane'' against their will where torture has been widely
reported. Lawyers trying to defend their rights have been harassed,
beaten and attacked by police officers in order to intimidate them. One
of China's most prominent human rights advocates, Gao Zhiseng, who has
defended the rights of many individuals attacked for their religious
beliefs, was detained by police in February 2009 and his whereabouts
are still unknown. The government continues to deny any involvement in
his case.
The Government of China censors all media in China and actively
opposes any information exposing its brutality and injustice. But the
truth is clear to us today. This resolution is a testament to the
millions of victims of the Chinese Communist Party that the Chinese
government cannot hide the truth, and its victims will not be
forgotten.
This resolution also stands as a statement of the U.S. Congress's
continued support for the inalienable right to freedom of religion and
expression recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that
applies to all people everywhere. To be taken seriously as a
participant in the twenty-first century global economy, China must take
the rights of their citizens seriously. Egregious injustices, such as
those suffered by the Falun Gong practitioners and others targeted by
the Chinese Communist Party, are unacceptable in a civilized world and
must end today.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 605, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
____________________