[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                   CHINA'S PANDA PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
South Carolina (Ms. Mace) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to shed a very serious light on 
what appears to be a seemingly light-hearted subject.
  As the world prepares for the Olympic Games, I rise to denounce the 
Chinese Communist Party and its worldwide panda propaganda campaign.
  From the COVID-19 fiasco started in a lab in Wuhan to China's 
coverup, to the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and the repeated 
and increasingly hostile incursions by Chinese fighter jets over the 
island of Taiwan, including when a bipartisan delegation visited Taiwan 
just last November, this administration has decided to answer Chinese 
aggression with a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games. I am 
sure Chairman Mao is trembling in his Tiananmen mausoleum at the 
thought of our diplomats staying home.
  Well, two can play at this game.
  Not many people know the Chinese Communist Party has leveraged the 
cuddly panda in an effort to soften their image around the world. 
Indeed, Bing Dwen Dwen, the panda dressed in an astronaut suit, is the 
official mascot of the Beijing Olympics. His costume is meant to 
demonstrate their embrace of the future and technology. Or perhaps it 
is a warm and fuzzy attempt to soften China's ambitions in space.
  China claims all pandas the world over belong to China, and they 
charge zoos a half-million dollars per panda per year for the privilege 
of loaning these gentle creatures to us. Ultimately, every last panda 
must be returned to China, property of the Chinese Communist 
Government.
  Every year, millions of Americans enjoy these pandas, not knowing the 
sinister plot behind their all-too-brief stay here. We should not fund 
China's panda propaganda campaign.
  In the words of Sun Tzu: ``Begin by seizing something which your 
opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.'' Let's get 
serious with our diplomacy and hit China where it hurts. Give freedom 
to the pandas and allow them to stay here in the United States.


                         Honoring Robert Smalls

  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, America has always been a place known for its 
citizens and its heroes who have gone above and beyond. In honor of 
Black History Month, the State of South Carolina and the First 
Congressional District in South Carolina has one such hero, a citizen 
by the name of Robert Smalls. Robert Smalls is the epitome of a true 
South Carolina hero.
  Robert Smalls was born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1839. 
Robert Smalls faced countless afflictions in the early years of his 
life, but he never gave up. During the Civil War, he hijacked a 
Confederate ammunition ship and turned it over to the Union Navy, 
delivering its 17 African-American passengers from slavery to freedom.
  Robert Smalls then became the first African American to pilot a U.S. 
vessel taking the helm of a Union warship in the first battle of 
Charleston Harbor in 1863.
  At the war's conclusion, Robert Smalls received a commission as 
brigadier general in the South Carolina militia and eventually went on 
to serve the South Carolina State General Assembly and Senate.
  But his tireless work for the people of South Carolina did not end 
there. Smalls would then go on to serve five terms in the U.S. House of 
Representatives, from 1874 to 1886, for South Carolina's First 
Congressional District, the district that I represent today.
  So, on behalf of the Lowcountry and the people of the First District, 
I am deeply honored to offer a bill being considered today in committee 
that will designate the U.S. post office at 11 Robert Smalls Parkway in 
Beaufort, South Carolina, as the Robert Smalls Post Office.


                       Honoring Christopher Celiz

  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the bravery and 
heroism of Sergeant First Class Christopher Celiz, an Army Ranger and 
proud son of South Carolina who made the ultimate sacrifice for his 
Nation during his fifth deployment in Afghanistan.
  Christopher was born in Charleston in 1986 and graduated from 
Summerville High School in 2004. After graduating, Christopher joined 
the United States Army, where he became a well-respected leader among 
his peers.
  During a mission in the Paktia province of Afghanistan, Sergeant 
Celiz and the First Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment were taking heavy 
fire from enemy combatants. When one of his men was hit, Christopher 
used his own body to shield the wounded soldier as he was being 
evacuated.
  Sergeant Celiz took heavy fire and was wounded multiple times during 
this moment, but instead of having the evacuation helicopter come back 
to retrieve him, he instructed the aircraft to leave so his fellow 
soldier and many other lives could be saved that day.
  Christopher's sacrifice is an inspiration to us all. His heroic 
actions deserve the recognition of our Nation, and I want to thank 
President Biden for posthumously awarding Sergeant First Class 
Christopher Celiz with the Medal of Honor. No one is more deserving.

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