[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 187 (Friday, November 7, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7974-S7976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING CONDEMNATION OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY'S PERSECUTION OF
RELIGIOUS MINORITY GROUPS
Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I rise today to speak about a grave matter
and a clear violation of religious freedom, human dignity, and the rule
of law.
In China, Christians are fighting daily for their religious freedom
against the Chinese Communist Party. And on October 10, 2025, the
Chinese Communist Party launched the largest coordinated nationwide
crackdown in more than four decades against a Christian urban house
church in China.
In that sweep, 23 pastors and church members of the Zion Church, one
of China's largest underground congregations, were arrested and
wrongfully detained, including Pastor Ezra Jin.
Pastor Jin and the members of the Zion Church were not engaged in
violence. They were worshiping. They were serving God. And for that
action, they are being treated as enemies of the communist state.
Last week, I introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution to condemn
the abduction of Pastor Jin and the Zion Church leaders and to demand
their immediate release. This resolution is designed to pressure
Chinese leadership to release the congregation members and to let them
practice their Christian faith freely. It sends a message that faith is
not a crime, and a government that fears its citizens' faith is nothing
more than an oppressive tyranny.
Pastor Jin's daughter and her husband Bill, a native Houstonian,
wrote about the CCP's persecution in the Washington Post this past
week. In their column, they made a piercing observation, and I want to
share it here in full:
There were few more obvious ways to showcase the bankruptcy
of an ideology--and the vitality of the Christian faith--than
by forcing peaceful believers to suffer for the sake of their
convictions.
[[Page S7975]]
This is a profound truth. China, like other communist regimes before
it, utterly despises the fact that there is and always has been a
higher authority than the state itself. In its effort to bring every
aspect of society under brutal government control, the CCP uses state
power to drive fear into the hearts of its citizens. History has shown
that these tactics will fail, and the persecuted church will only grow
stronger.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that God gave us not a spirit of fear but
of power and of love. I know that that same spirit--one of power and of
love--is what the church in China is fighting with.
I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this resolution
unanimously to show our support for Pastor Jin, his family, and his
fellow believers, and to show the world that the United States stands
on the side of freedom, on the side of faith, and we stand with the
persecuted Christians in China.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations
Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now
proceed to S. Res. 463.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 463) expressing condemnation of the
Chinese Communist Party's persecution of religious minority
groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists and the
detention of Pastor ``Ezra'' Jin Mingri and leaders of the
Zion Church, and reaffirming the United States' global
commitment to promote religious freedom and tolerance.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged and the Senate
proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. CRUZ. I ask unanimous consent that the Cruz substitute amendment
to the resolution be considered and agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment, in the nature of a substitute, was agreed to as
follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
That the Senate--
(1) strongly condemns the Chinese Communist Party's
persecution of religious minority groups, including Pastor
``Ezra'' Jin Mingri and other leaders and members of Zion
Church and other faith communities;
(2) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to
promote religious freedom and tolerance around the world and
to help provide protection and relief to religious minorities
facing persecution and violence;
(3) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of
all detained members of Zion Church, including Pastor Jin,
and all other wrongfully detained religious practioners in
China;
(4) calls for the Government of the People's Republic of
China to cease its harassment and intimidation of the
relatives of Zion Church members and their relatives,
including tactics of transnational repression overseas;
(5) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of
China to release all other arbitrarily detained religious
believers, including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and
other Christians; and
(6) demands that the Government of the People's Republic of
China--
(A) respect the internationally recognized human right to
freedom of religion or belief; and
(B) end all forms of violence and discrimination against
religious minority groups and entities.
Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I know of no further debate on the
resolution, as amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Hearing no further debate, the question is on adoption of the
resolution, as amended.
The resolution (S. Res. 463), as amended, was agreed to.
Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Cruz
substitute amendment to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble,
as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment to the preamble, in the nature of a substitute, was
agreed to as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
Strike the preamble and insert the following:
Whereas, on October 10, 2025, international news outlets
reported that the Chinese Communist Party (referred to in
this preamble as the ``CCP'') detained Pastor ``Ezra'' Jin
Mingri, who is the founder of Zion Church, from his home in
Guangxi Province, China;
Whereas CCP authorities also arrested nearly 30 other
pastors and church members from Zion Church;
Whereas 23 members of Zion Church remain in detention
centers, while other members have been released on bail, and
still others are being harassed and intimidated by Chinese
authorities;
Whereas the CCP's actions mark the largest coordinated,
nationwide crackdown against an unregistered Christian house
church network in more than 40 years;
Whereas thousands of Zion Church members and millions of
Christians and other religious adherents who reside in the
People's Republic of China seek to peacefully worship God and
care for their neighbors without the threat or fear of
persecution;
Whereas the imprisonment of Pastor Jin is the latest
instance of CCP persecution of a large number of religious
minorities, including Christians, Muslim Uyghurs, Hui
Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists;
Whereas, since coming to power in 2012, CCP General
Secretary Xi Jinping has escalated a campaign to ``sinicize''
religion in China by--
(1) allowing authorities to burn bibles, imprison
believers, and tear down Christian crosses; and
(2) forcing religious organizations and adherents to
conform to the ideology of the CCP;
Whereas, under the policy of sinicizing religion, the
Government of China has--
(1) ordered the removal of crosses from Catholic and
Protestant churches;
(2) censored religious texts;
(3) imposed CCP-approved religious materials;
(4) replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with
pictures of Xi Jinping; and
(5) instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology;
Whereas, in 2021, the Trump administration determined the
CCP--
(1) had committed crimes against humanity and genocide
against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other
ethnic and religious minority groups, including ethnic
Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz; and
(2) has continued to subject religious minority groups in
China to restrictions on religious practices and freedom of
expression, arbitrary imprisonment, forced sterilization
torture, and forced labor;
Whereas the CCP has made consistent efforts to erode the
religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of Tibetans,
including by--
(1) closing Buddhist monasteries and limiting entry or
practitioners;
(2) forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining
Tibetans for practicing their religious beliefs;
(3) censoring religious content online; and
(4) expanding the use of boarding schools to indoctrinate
children in CCP-approved curricula and Mandarin Chinese;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292), which
established, as the official policy of the United States--
(1) to condemn violations of religious freedom;
(2) to promote, and assist other governments in the
promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of religion;
(3) to stand for liberty and with the persecuted;
(4) to use and implement appropriate tools in the United
States foreign policy apparatus, including diplomatic,
political, commercial, charitable, educational, and cultural
channels; and
(5) to promote respect for religious freedom by all
governments and peoples;
Whereas, under the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998, the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom has designated the People's Republic of China as a
``country of particular concern for religious freedom'' every
year since 1999;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf
International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281) in
2016 to enhance the capabilities of the United States to
advance religious liberty globally through diplomacy,
training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance;
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328), enacted
by Congress in 2016, gives the President the authority to
impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for
committing human rights violations;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is a signatory to
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris
on December 10, 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, adopted in New York on December 19,
1966, which recognize freedom of religion as an
internationally-recognized human right;
Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's
Republic of China explicitly states that citizens of the
People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief;
and
Whereas the United States must show strong international
leadership when it comes to the advancement of religious
freedoms, liberties, and protections: Now, therefore, be it
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows:
[[Page S7976]]
S. Res. 463
Whereas, on October 10, 2025, international news outlets
reported that the Chinese Communist Party (referred to in
this preamble as the ``CCP'') detained Pastor ``Ezra'' Jin
Mingri, who is the founder of Zion Church, from his home in
Guangxi Province, China;
Whereas CCP authorities also arrested nearly 30 other
pastors and church members from Zion Church;
Whereas 23 members of Zion Church remain in detention
centers, while other members have been released on bail, and
still others are being harassed and intimidated by Chinese
authorities;
Whereas the CCP's actions mark the largest coordinated,
nationwide crackdown against an unregistered Christian house
church network in more than 40 years;
Whereas thousands of Zion Church members and millions of
Christians and other religious adherents who reside in the
People's Republic of China seek to peacefully worship God and
care for their neighbors without the threat or fear of
persecution;
Whereas the imprisonment of Pastor Jin is the latest
instance of CCP persecution of a large number of religious
minorities, including Christians, Muslim Uyghurs, Hui
Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists;
Whereas, since coming to power in 2012, CCP General
Secretary Xi Jinping has escalated a campaign to ``sinicize''
religion in China by--
(1) allowing authorities to burn bibles, imprison
believers, and tear down Christian crosses; and
(2) forcing religious organizations and adherents to
conform to the ideology of the CCP;
Whereas, under the policy of sinicizing religion, the
Government of China has--
(1) ordered the removal of crosses from Catholic and
Protestant churches;
(2) censored religious texts;
(3) imposed CCP-approved religious materials;
(4) replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with
pictures of Xi Jinping; and
(5) instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology;
Whereas, in 2021, the Trump administration determined the
CCP--
(1) had committed crimes against humanity and genocide
against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other
ethnic and religious minority groups, including ethnic
Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz; and
(2) has continued to subject religious minority groups in
China to restrictions on religious practices and freedom of
expression, arbitrary imprisonment, forced sterilization
torture, and forced labor;
Whereas the CCP has made consistent efforts to erode the
religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of Tibetans,
including by--
(1) closing Buddhist monasteries and limiting entry or
practitioners;
(2) forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining
Tibetans for practicing their religious beliefs;
(3) censoring religious content online; and
(4) expanding the use of boarding schools to indoctrinate
children in CCP-approved curricula and Mandarin Chinese;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292), which
established, as the official policy of the United States--
(1) to condemn violations of religious freedom;
(2) to promote, and assist other governments in the
promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of religion;
(3) to stand for liberty and with the persecuted;
(4) to use and implement appropriate tools in the United
States foreign policy apparatus, including diplomatic,
political, commercial, charitable, educational, and cultural
channels; and
(5) to promote respect for religious freedom by all
governments and peoples;
Whereas, under the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998, the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom has designated the People's Republic of China as a
``country of particular concern for religious freedom'' every
year since 1999;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf
International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281) in
2016 to enhance the capabilities of the United States to
advance religious liberty globally through diplomacy,
training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance;
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328), enacted
by Congress in 2016, gives the President the authority to
impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for
committing human rights violations;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is a signatory to
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris
on December 10, 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, adopted in New York on December 19,
1966, which recognize freedom of religion as an
internationally-recognized human right;
Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's
Republic of China explicitly states that citizens of the
People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief;
and
Whereas the United States must show strong international
leadership when it comes to the advancement of religious
freedoms, liberties, and protections: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) strongly condemns the Chinese Communist Party's
persecution of religious minority groups, including Pastor
``Ezra'' Jin Mingri and other leaders and members of Zion
Church and other faith communities;
(2) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to
promote religious freedom and tolerance around the world and
to help provide protection and relief to religious minorities
facing persecution and violence;
(3) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of
all detained members of Zion Church, including Pastor Jin,
and all other wrongfully detained religious practioners in
China;
(4) calls for the Government of the People's Republic of
China to cease its harassment and intimidation of the
relatives of Zion Church members and their relatives,
including tactics of transnational repression overseas;
(5) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of
China to release all other arbitrarily detained religious
believers, including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and
other Christians; and
(6) demands that the Government of the People's Republic of
China--
(A) respect the internationally recognized human right to
freedom of religion or belief; and
(B) end all forms of violence and discrimination against
religious minority groups and entities.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
____________________