[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 55 (Monday, March 27, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1446-H1449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STOP FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING ACT OF 2023
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 1154) to combat forced organ harvesting and
trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of organs, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1154
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Forced Organ Harvesting
Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States--
(1) to combat international trafficking in persons for
purposes of the removal of organs;
(2) to promote the establishment of voluntary organ
donation systems with effective enforcement mechanisms in
bilateral diplomatic meetings and in international health
forums;
(3) to promote the dignity and security of human life in
accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
adopted on December 10, 1948; and
(4) to hold accountable persons implicated, including
members of the Chinese Communist Party, in forced organ
harvesting and trafficking in persons for purposes of the
removal of organs.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
(2) Forced organ harvesting.--The term ``forced organ
harvesting'' means the removal of one or more organs from a
person by means of coercion, abduction, deception, fraud, or
abuse of power or a position of vulnerability.
(3) Organ.--The term ``organ'' has the meaning given the
term ``human organ'' in section 301(c)(1) of the National
Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e(c)(1)).
(4) Trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of
organs.--The term ``trafficking in persons for purposes of
the removal of organs'' means the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person
for the purpose of removing one or more of such person's
organs, by means of--
(A) coercion;
(B) abduction;
(C) deception;
(D) fraud;
(E) abuse of power or a position of vulnerability; or
(F) transfer of payments or benefits to achieve the consent
of a person having control over a person described in the
matter preceding subparagraph (A).
SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO DENY OR REVOKE PASSPORTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State may refuse to issue
a passport to any individual who has been convicted of an
offense under section 301 of the National Organ Transplant
Act (42 U.S.C. 274e) and is subject to imprisonment or parole
or other supervised release as the result of such conviction
if such individual, in the commission of such an offense,
used a passport or crossed an international border.
(b) Revocation.--The Secretary of State may revoke a
passport previously issued to any individual described in
subsection (a).
SEC. 5. REPORTS ON FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING AND TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS FOR PURPOSES OF THE REMOVAL OF ORGANS
IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.)
is amended--
(1) in section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n), by adding at the end
the following:
``(h) Forced Organ Harvesting and Trafficking in Persons
for Purposes of the Removal of Organs.--
``(1) In general.--The report required by subsection (d)
shall include an assessment of forced organ harvesting and
trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of organs
in each foreign country.
``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Forced organ harvesting.--The term `forced organ
harvesting' means the removal of one or more organs from a
person by means of coercion, abduction, deception, fraud, or
abuse of power or a position of vulnerability.
``(B) Organ.--The term `organ' has the meaning given the
term `human organ' in section 301(c)(1) of the National Organ
Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e(c)(1)).
``(C) Trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of
organs.--The term `trafficking in persons for purposes of the
removal of organs' means the recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person for the purpose
of removing one or more of such person's organs, by means
of--
``(i) coercion;
``(ii) abduction;
``(iii) deception;
``(iv) fraud;
``(v) abuse of power or a position of vulnerability; or
``(vi) transfer of payments or benefits to achieve the
consent of a person having control over a person described in
the matter preceding clause (i).''; and
(2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)--
(A) by redesignating the second subsection (i) (relating to
child marriage status) as subsection (j); and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(k) Forced Organ Harvesting and Trafficking in Persons
for Purposes of the Removal of Organs.--
``(1) In general.--The report required by subsection (b)
shall include an assessment of forced organ harvesting and
trafficking in
[[Page H1447]]
persons for purposes of the removal of organs in each foreign
country.
``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms `forced
organ harvesting', `organ', and `trafficking in persons for
purposes of the removal of organs' have the meanings given
those terms in section 116(h)(2).''.
SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FORCED ORGAN
HARVESTING OR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS FOR
PURPOSES OF THE REMOVAL OF ORGANS.
(a) List Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a list of each person
that the President determines funds, sponsors, or otherwise
facilitates forced organ harvesting or trafficking in persons
for purposes of the removal of organs.
(b) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose
the following sanctions with respect to a person on the list
required by subsection (a):
(1) Property blocking.--The President shall exercise all of
the powers granted by the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except that the
requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1701)
shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and
prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in
property of the person if such property and interests in
property are in the United States, come within the United
States, or are or come within the possession or control of a
United States person.
(2) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an
individual, that individual is--
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to
enter the United States; and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into
the United States or to receive any other benefit under the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(B) Current visas revoked.--
(i) In general.--The visa or other entry documentation of
the individual shall be revoked, regardless of when such visa
or other entry documentation is or was issued.
(ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under clause (i)
shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry
documentation that is in the individual's possession.
(c) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose
sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall not include the
authority or a requirement to impose sanctions on the
importation of goods.
(B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term ``good''
means any article, natural or manmade substance, material,
supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test
equipment, and excluding technical data.
(2) Exception to comply with international obligations.--
Subsection (b)(2) shall not apply to the admission of an
individual if the admission of the individual is necessary to
comply with United States obligations under the Agreement
between the United Nations and the United States of America
regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at
Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November
21, 1947, under the Convention on Consular Relations, done at
Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967,
or under other applicable international agreements or
treaties.
(3) Exception relating to the provision of humanitarian
assistance.--Sanctions under this section may not be imposed
with respect to transactions or the facilitation of
transactions for--
(A) the sale of agricultural commodities, food, or
medicine;
(B) the provision of vital humanitarian assistance;
(C) financial transactions relating to vital humanitarian
assistance or for vital humanitarian purposes; or
(D) transporting goods or services that are necessary to
carry out operations relating to vital humanitarian
assistance.
(4) Waiver.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis and
for periods not to exceed 180 days each, waive the
application of sanctions or restrictions imposed with respect
to a person under this section if the President certifies to
the appropriate committees of Congress not later than 15 days
before such waiver is to take effect that the waiver is vital
to the national security interests of the United States.
(d) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702
and 1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry
out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth
in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705)
to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act
described in subsection (a) of that section.
(e) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``person''--
(A) means an individual or entity; and
(B) includes a non-state actor (as such term is defined in
Public Law 114-281); and
(2) the term ``United States person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence to the United States; or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States
or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a
foreign branch of such an entity.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, every year under General Secretary Xi Jinping and his
Chinese Communist Party, between 60,000 to 100,000 young victims,
average age 28, are murdered in cold blood to steal their organs.
These crimes against humanity are unimaginably cruel. Ethnic groups
targeted for this mass harvesting include Uyghurs who suffer from Xi
Jinping's ongoing genocide and the Falun Gong, whose peaceful
meditation and exercise practices and exceptional good health make
their organs highly desirable.
The Chinese Communist Party has declared them to be an evil cult fit
for butchering.
Mr. Speaker, in May of last year, I chaired an absolutely chilling
congressional hearing at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission titled
``Forced Organ Harvesting in China: Examining the Evidence.''
The China Tribunal, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice--and this is the man
who prosecuted Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a tribunal that I worked very hard
on and was very supportive of, as were other Members of this body--
conducted the world's first independent legal analysis of forced organ
harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China.
Sir Geoffrey Nice testified at my hearing and said, ``Forced organ
harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a
significant scale,'' and he said that ``. . . Falun Gong practitioners
have been one--and probably the main--source of organ supply.''
He said the Falun Gong and the Uyghurs in the PRC each qualify as a
``group'' for purposes of the crime of genocide.
Ethan Gutmann, Senior Research Fellow in China Studies, Victims of
Communism Memorial Foundation, testified that the Kilgour-Matas-Gutmann
report of 2016 estimated China's total transplant volume--this is
forced transplantations--at 60,000 to 100,000 annually.
Mr. Gutmann also pointed out ``. . . at any given time since 2017,
there are approximately a million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Hui in
the camps.'' These are the concentration camps, of course, made up
mostly of Muslims.
{time} 1715
He said his estimate is that 25,000 to 50,000 camp detainees are
being harvested every year. Again, he says 28-year-olds from the
Xinjiang camps can be harvested for two or three organs each,
translating into a maximum of about 150,000 organs.
Another expert witness who testified at our hearing, Matthew
Robertson of the Australian National University, coauthored with Dr.
Jacob Lavee an examination of Chinese medical journal articles and
found that ``71 papers gave explicit descriptions of surgeons appearing
to violate the dead donor rule while procuring hearts from prisoners.
In plain language, the papers appear to show that the donors, who were
prisoners, were alive at the time of surgery and were killed by
transplant surgeons in the process of heart extraction.''
Their work, published last April in a top peer-reviewed U.S. medical
journal,
[[Page H1448]]
``The American Journal of Transplantation'' provided additional
evidence of the People's Republic of China's egregious practices and
violation of international standards. These are, again, crimes against
humanity.
Robert Destro, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor testified that, ``The size and scope of the
organ harvesting and organ trafficking market are staggering.''
Mr. Speaker, we also know through open-source Chinese language media
that elderly, high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials have
received replacement organs from the very people they despise, like the
Falun Gong, like the Uyghurs. There is one particular hospital, Army
Hospital 301 in Beijing, that excels at this.
While this still shocks me, and I know it shocks my colleagues, I
cannot say it surprises me.
Almost 25 years ago, I chaired a hearing. Doug Anderson, who is
sitting right here, was a part of that hearing as the top staff on the
committee. I chaired a human rights hearing with a Chinese security
officer who testified that he and other security agents were executing
patients with the doctors right there with ambulances ready to harvest
their organs after the bullets were fired.
Indeed, at last year's hearing, we produced a doctor who testified
that he had performed one such surgery on a victim--he was forced to,
he claimed--a botched execution who as he began cutting discovered that
the victim was in a state of shock--he wasn't dead yet--a live
vivisection on a living human being. He has nightmares to this day.
To combat these heinous and inhumane practices, the Stop Forced Organ
Harvesting Act of 2023, a bipartisan piece of legislation, amends the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require reports on forced organ
harvesting and trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of
organs in foreign countries, including and especially in China; and the
imposition of serious sanctions on any person the President determines
funds, sponsors or otherwise facilitates forced organ harvesting or
trafficking for purposes of the removal of organs.
What does that mean? It means civil penalties up to $250,000 and
criminal penalties including a fine of up to $1 million and
imprisonment for not more than 20 years or both. So we are serious
about sanctioning this egregious practice.
Sanctions also include blocking and prohibiting all transactions in
property and interests in property and making such persons inadmissible
to the United States and ineligible to receive a visa.
State-sponsored forced organ harvesting is big business for Xi
Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party and shows absolutely no signs
of abating, which is why we and the rest of the world need to step up,
particularly the democracies of this world.
We must act, and we must act decisively.
I thank Chairman McCaul for his cosponsorship and his tremendous
leadership on this bill, as well as Ranking Member Meeks for his strong
support. I also thank our Democratic cosponsor, Bill Keating, as well
as Kathy Manning, for their strong support and cosponsorship of this
legislation. I extend a very special thanks to Mary Vigil; Janice
Kaguyutan, who is sitting over here on my right on the Democrat side;
Piero Tozzi, who is the staff director for the China Commission of
which I am the chairman; and Doug Anderson, who has done a wonderful
job throughout all of this; and Mary McDermott Noonan, my chief of
staff, all who have worked so diligently in such a cooperative and
bipartisan way to bring this piece of legislation to the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC, March 17, 2023.
Hon. Jim Jordan,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Jordan: Thank you for consulting with the
Foreign Affairs Committee and agreeing to be discharged from
further consideration of H.R. 1154, the ``Stop Forced Organ
Harvesting Act of 2023,'' so that the measure may proceed
expeditiously to the House floor.
I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure
does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of
your committee, or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives
on this measure or similar legislation in the future. I would
support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate
number of conferees from your committee to any House-Senate
conference on this legislation.
I will seek to place our letters on this bill into the
Congressional Record during floor consideration. I appreciate
your cooperation regarding this legislation and look forward
to continuing to work together as this measure moves through
the legislative process.
Sincerely,
Michael T. McCaul,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC, March 15, 2023.
Hon. Michael McCaul,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman McCaul: I write regarding H.R. 1154, the
``Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023.'' Provisions of
this bill fall within the Judiciary Committee's Rule X
jurisdiction, and I appreciate that you consulted with us on
those provisions. The Judiciary Committee agrees that it
shall be discharged from further consideration of the bill so
that it may proceed expeditiously to the House floor.
The Committee takes this action with the understanding that
forgoing further consideration of this measure does not in
any way alter the Committee's jurisdiction or waive any
future jurisdictional claim over these provisions or their
subject matter. We also reserve the right to seek appointment
of an appropriate number of conferees in the event of a
conference with the Senate involving this measure or similar
legislation.
I ask that you please insert this letter in the
Congressional Record during consideration of H.R. 1154 on the
House floor. I appreciate the cooperative manner in which our
committees have worked on this matter, and I look forward to
working collaboratively in the future on matters of shared
jurisdiction. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Jim Jordan,
Chairman.
Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and
I rise in support of H.R. 1154.
This is a measure authored by Representative Chris Smith, who is the
chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global
Human Rights, and International Organizations of which I am the ranking
member. He has been a long-time leader in this body on human rights
challenges, and I am glad to be supporting this measure today. I look
forward to continuing to work with Representative Smith to address many
important global human rights challenges in the coming months on our
subcommittee.
I also thank Representative Keating, the Democratic co-lead of this
measure, for working across the aisle to refine this bill and make it
bipartisan.
According to the State Department's 2022 Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices, there have been troubling reports regarding the PRC
``forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience, including
religious and spiritual adherents.''
This is beyond the pale and absolutely unacceptable. It is important,
therefore, that the State Department look more deeply into this issue.
H.R. 1154 shines a light on this horrible practice and calls on the
State Department to make its annual reporting on the issue more robust
and in depth. Not only does it call for more regular assessments of the
problem, it also imposes sanctions on individuals that are involved in
forced organ harvesting and trafficking.
This legislation will make sure that the United States is carefully
gathering all of the facts to make an informed assessment regarding the
magnitude and prevalence of this problem.
We should never look away from injustice and repression wherever it
takes place. In that spirit, I support this legislation, and I urge all
of my colleagues to support it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for
the purpose of closing.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1154 is an important, bipartisan measure. We know
that organ harvesting has been a problem in China. We also know that
PRC officials in Xinjiang have collected biometric data from Uyghur and
other ethnic minority detainees. Given the ongoing genocide in
Xinjiang, we simply cannot take Beijing at its word
[[Page H1449]]
about what it is and is not doing. We need to investigate, and we need
to verify.
H.R. 1154 does just that. It calls on the State Department to provide
important information to Congress, to the American public, as well as
to the world about the scope of organ harvesting and trafficking around
the world so that we may respond appropriately.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume for the purpose of closing.
I thank Ms. Wild for her strong support and for her wonderful and
strong remarks today in favor of this bipartisan legislation.
I do believe that we are really at a point now where if not us, who?
We need to speak, and we need to speak boldly. This legislation, again,
was crafted across the aisle. We have worked very closely together on
it. I believe this legislation will make a huge difference.
Not so long ago I was in the intensive care unit. I am fine now, but
when I was lying there, I kept thinking about this bill and some poor
28-year-old in the People's Republic of China who is not there being
treated in a benign way by doctors and nurses but is being strapped
down--not always anesthetized sufficiently--to steal their organs and
to kill them.
It is happening--as I indicated earlier, and this is a very reliable
number--between 60 to 100,000 times against 60 to 100,000 20-year-olds
each and every year.
This is Nazi-like.
Xi Jinping needs to be held accountable. The fact that he and the
high officials of the Chinese Communist Party are benefiting not just
with unbelievable amounts of money for the Chinese Communist Party and
for them personally, but also, if they need any organ, they turn to the
very people that they hate, especially Falun Gong and Muslim Uyghurs,
in order to procure their organs.
This must get strong support from this body, strong support from the
Senate, and I believe it will be signed by the President if we can get
it to his desk.
We need to make a difference.
Again, I urge Members to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance
of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1154.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. 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, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________