[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8875-8876]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING THE 24TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TIANANMEN SQUARE CRACKDOWN 
                          AND BEIJING MASSACRE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 24th 
anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and Beijing massacre 
in China.
  A quarter of a century ago, the world watched with horror as the 
atrocities in Tiananmen Square and nearby streets in Beijing unfolded. 
During this anniversary period, it is with solidarity that we remember 
the victims of that deep tragedy.
  The courageous students protesting on those days in April, May, and 
June of 1989 sought basic freedoms. Prophetic in their presence, they 
called upon their autocratic, Communist government to embrace liberty, 
respect

[[Page 8876]]

human rights, and put an end to deep-seated corruption. Chinese 
intellectuals like Wei Jingsheng championed political reform. They 
posted essays on the Democracy Wall in Beijing. For that, he was 
arrested and imprisoned twice for a total of 18 years. The Democracy 
Wall and its postings were shut down.
  Today, still autocratic and still Communist, China faces many of the 
same challenges, despite promises by its new leadership that reform 
would occur. Millions of Chinese people remain denied adequate food, 
housing, and health care, and over 1,200 Chinese dissidents and critics 
are known to be imprisoned or detained for standing up for freedom of 
speech. Deep disparities between the rich and the poor of China exist. 
Eight hundred million Chinese, close to a billion people--60 percent of 
its people--exist on less than $15 a day, all while the government 
seizes land and forces evictions.
  Meanwhile, Communist Party leaders have become billionaires, often 
through corruption, graft, and theft, with immunity from a lawless 
regime. To rise economically in China, you must take an oath to the 
Communist Party and then be accepted into that club of politicians who 
become vastly wealthy as they climb the party ladder.
  The Market-Leninism that drives China has resulted in 83 billionaires 
buying seats in their parliament. I can only imagine what that money 
power does to drive out the voices of the masses of the people longing 
to be free. The average fortune among these wealthiest 83 Communist 
Party delegates is $3.35 billion.
  Environmental issues are also a major source of concern for the 
Chinese people, and they remain unaddressed. The New York Times 
recently reported on the findings of the Global Burden of Disease 
Study, which states air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature 
deaths in China in 2010.
  It is no secret religious organizations are heavily restricted and 
monitored in China. The Catholic Church is banned, and phony bishops 
are sanctioned by the government in their stead. Often, ethnic and 
religious minorities are intimidated or harassed by government 
officials.

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  Despite extensive documentation of the truth, the Chinese Communist 
Party continues to manipulate and censor the facts surrounding the 
events at Tiananmen Square and Beijing a quarter century ago; not to 
mention their ongoing censorship of the press and the Internet. The 
government blocks the social media, denying Facebook and Twitter the 
ability to operate. Journalists are regularly harassed and often 
imprisoned.
  In remembrance of freedom's prophets, lost peacefully pursuing 
liberty at Tiananmen Square and in Beijing a quarter century ago, and 
those today who dream of a more liberty-loving future in that country, 
our Nation honors their noble spirits, their courage, their 
aspirations, and their lives given in pursuit of the cause of liberty.

                          ____________________