[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       RELEASE SANDY PHAN-GILLIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, China is illegally imprisoning an 
American citizen, Mrs. Sandy Phan-Gillis. March 19 marked the 2-year 
anniversary since Sandy illegally was incarcerated by the Chinese 
Government.
  Sandy is from Houston, Texas. She has lived there for almost 40 
years. She worked tirelessly to improve U.S. relations with China. She 
believed that closer engagement would improve the lives of both 
Americans and the Chinese.
  As a member of the Houston Mayor's International Trade and 
Development Council, Sandy traveled to China in March 2015 with Houston 
Mayor Pro Tem Ed Gonzalez. Their purpose was to help a trade mission to 
promote business between Houston, Texas, and China.
  It was on this trip when Sandy was unlawfully arrested by China's 
State Security. The Chinese accused her of being a spy for the FBI. She 
was thrown into solitary confinement and subjected to torture and 
relentless questioning.
  Mr. Speaker, there are worldwide horror stories about Chinese 
prisons. Sandy was hospitalized twice because of the treatment by 
China's spy agency while she was incarcerated in China.
  Sandy suffers from several serious medical conditions. The Chinese 
threatened to take away her access to medicine, basically threatening 
to kill her, unless she confessed to being a spy. She even suffered a 
fear-induced heart attack because of their brutality while she was in 
custody.
  Sandy's false imprisonment is a travesty and a farce.
  Here is a photograph of Sandy before she was imprisoned in China.
  Her lawyers and her family have never received a copy of the warrants 
for her detention or her arrest. It took the Chinese over a year while 
she was in jail before they even charged her with a crime. She was not 
allowed to speak to a lawyer for over a year.
  According to the Chinese Government, Sandy was spying for the FBI 
back in the nineties--that was over 25 years ago--but the Chinese 
Government has not been able to provide a scintilla of evidence to back 
up their outlandish false claims.
  The FBI has stated Sandy never, ever has worked for them, and her 
passport shows that she never traveled to China in the timeframe the 
Communist State Security accuses her of going on spy missions in China. 
In fact, there is documentation proving Sandy was working in Houston, 
Texas, at the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a former judge, and I have looked at the evidence 
in this case. There is no evidence, and she should be released. The 
Chinese allegations are a total illusion on the part of the Communist 
government.
  Sandy has been denied the basic rights she is entitled to, even under 
Chinese law and international law. The United Nations has reviewed 
Sandy's case and determined that she had been arbitrarily arrested and 
that her rights have been violated. After 2 years in jail, she has not 
had the chance to have an appearance before a judge.
  Sandy spent her entire life trying to improve China's trade relations 
with the United States, and for her efforts, she was put in jail by the 
Communist Chinese.
  If Sandy isn't safe in China, then no American is. On any given trip, 
an American citizen like Sandy can be snatched by the Communists and 
put in jail just on a whim.
  Supposedly, the State Department has raised Sandy's case with their 
Chinese counterparts over 20 times, but more pressure needs to be 
applied. We know that China is a gross human rights violator. They 
persecute minorities in their country.
  China cannot be allowed to illegally detain and torture an American 
citizen and face no consequences for their unlawful acts. Hopefully, 
Secretary Tillerson will make freeing Sandy a top priority for this 
administration.
  The last time Sandy's husband, Jeff, whom I have met with, was able 
to speak with her was way back in September of 2015. Sandy has already 
missed out on 2 years of her life with her loving husband and her 
daughter.
  It is time to let Sandy go. She is not guilty of any crime. The only 
crime being committed is by the Chinese Government for their false 
imprisonment of an American citizen.
  And that is just the way it is.

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