[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2587]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BRITAIN OLYMPIC GAG

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the press in Great Britain has reported that 
British Olympic athletes will be required as a requirement for their 
inclusion on the Olympic team to sign a contract promising not to speak 
about China's appalling human rights record. I'm surprised and dismayed 
that a country with a history such as Britain's would be so short-
sighted. The country that paved the way for the enumerated rights of 
individuals in the Magna Carta is now restricting the free speech of 
its athletes from condemning some of the most brutal human rights 
violations in the world today.
  The country of William Wilberforce, the man who was so outspoken in 
his campaign to end the slave trade, must have forgotten its history as 
a society dedicated to human rights. It is deeply disappointing that 
our closest ally has chosen to kowtow to the Chinese regime.
  Wilberforce's friend, another British statesman, Edmund Burke, once 
said, ``All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men 
to do nothing.''

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