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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 821 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 821

Condemning Communist China's discrimination, harassment, imprisonment, 
         torture, and execution of its prisoners of conscience.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2007

 Mr. McCotter (for himself, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Kuhl of 
    New York, Mr. Stearns, and Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Condemning Communist China's discrimination, harassment, imprisonment, 
         torture, and execution of its prisoners of conscience.

Whereas according to the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom's (``USCIRF'') 2007 Annual Report, ``All religious groups in 
        China face some restrictions, monitoring, and surveillance, ... and 
        religious freedom conditions deteriorated for communities not affiliated 
        with one of the 7 government-approved religious organizations, ... and 
        those closely associated with ethnic minority groups. Religious 
        communities particularly targeted include ... `underground' Roman 
        Catholics, `house church' Protestants, and various spiritual movements 
        such as Falun Gong'';
Whereas according to the USCIRF 2007 Annual Report, in Communist China, ``There 
        continue to be reports that prominent religious leaders and laypersons 
        alike are confined, tortured, `disappeared', imprisoned, or subjected to 
        other forms of ill treatment on account of their religion or belief'';
Whereas according the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on 
        China's 2007 Annual Report, ``The Commission noted a more visible trend 
        in harassment and repression of unregistered Protestants for alleged 
        cult involvement starting in mid-2006 ...'' and ``an increase in 
        harassment against unregistered Catholics starting in 2004 and an 
        increase in pressure on registered clerics beginning in 2005'';
Whereas according to the United States Department of State's 2006 Country Report 
        on Human Rights practices in China, ``Government officials continued to 
        deny holding any political prisoners, asserting that authorities 
        detained persons not for their political or religious views, but because 
        they violated the law; however, the authorities continued to confine 
        citizens for reasons related to politics and religion'';
Whereas according to Chapter II Article 36 of the constitution of Communist 
        China, ``No state organ, public organization or individual may compel 
        citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they 
        discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any 
        religion'';
Whereas according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
        ``Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; 
        this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and 
        freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or 
        private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, 
        worship and observance'';
Whereas Communist China is an original party to the Universal Declaration of 
        Human Rights;
Whereas according to Human Rights Watch's 2007 World Report, Communist Chinese 
        authorities arrested ``... as many as 1,958 [protestant Christians] in a 
        one-year period ending in June 2006--for attending training sessions and 
        Bible study meetings in unregistered venues ...'';
Whereas according to Amnesty International's 2007 Annual Report on China, 
        ``Thousands of members of underground protestant `house churches' and 
        unofficial Catholic churches were detained, many of whom were ill-
        treated or tortured in detention'';
Whereas on May 27, 2001, Christian journalist Li Ying was arrested by the 
        Communist Chinese authorities for her involvement in publishing an 
        ``underground'' Christian church magazine, and she is presently serving 
        a 15-year prison sentence in Communist China's Wuhan Female Prison in 
        Hubei Province;
Whereas on August 20, 2001, Sun Minghua was arrested by Communist Chinese 
        authorities for her leadership position in the South China Church, and 
        she is presently serving a 13-year prison sentence in Communist China's 
        Wuhan Female Prison in Hubei Province;
Whereas on June 17, 2004, Jiang Zongxiu was arrested, in Guizhou Provence, by 
        Communist Chinese authorities for distributing Christian literature and 
        died the following day, June 18, 2004, after being beaten to death while 
        in the custody of Communist Chinese authorities;
Whereas on December 1, 2004, Pastor Zhang Rongliang was arrested in Xuzahi 
        village by Communist Chinese authorities and sentenced to seven and one-
        half years in prison at the Third Detention Center in Zhengzhou City, 
        Hennan Provence. Previously, Pastor Rongliang served a combined 12 years 
        in Communist Chinese prisons where he has been tortured with electrical 
        shocks;
Whereas on September 9, 2007, ``underground'' Bishop Han Dingxiang of the 
        Diocese of Yong Nian died in a Communist Chinese prison after being 
        detained for nearly eight years. During his life, Bishop Dingxiang was 
        arrested 11 times and spent roughly 35 years in either labor camps, 
        prisons, or under house arrest;
Whereas on September 22, 2007, Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was 
        secretly taken from his home after sending an open letter to the United 
        States Congress recounting Communist China's elimination of over 3,000 
        Falun Gong practitioners over the past eight years;
Whereas on October 1, 2007, Hua Huiqi was placed under house arrest in Beijing 
        by Communist Chinese authorities for his role as a pastor of an 
        ``underground'' house church. Subsequently, on October 17, 2007, Hua 
        Huiqi was beaten by Communist Chinese authorities because he would not 
        reveal names of other ``underground'' Christians. Presently, Communist 
        Chinese authorities have imprisoned Hua Huiqi's 76-year-old mother, 
        Shuang Shuying;
Whereas according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, Bishop Lin Xili, Bishop Shi 
        Enxiang, Bishop Su Zhimin, and Bishop Yao Liang are being held in secret 
        locations by the Communist Chinese government; and
Whereas according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, Father Huo Junlong, Father 
        Liu Deli, Father Lu Genjun, Father Ma Shunbao, and Father Ma Wuyong are 
        presently detained in Communist Chinese prisons and Father Guo Ergrang, 
        Father Yen Shuangxi, and Father Zhang Zhenquian are also detained and 
        locked in small cages for roughly ten hours per day by the Communist 
        Chinese government: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns Communist China's discrimination, harassment, 
        imprisonment, torture, and execution of its prisoners of 
        conscience;
            (2) calls upon Communist China to immediately--
                    (A) cease harassment and discrimination against all 
                unregistered religious organizations and individual 
                religious practitioners; and
                    (B) release its prisoners of conscience;
            (3) calls upon Communist China to publicly release 
        information about--
                    (A) the number of prisoners of conscience presently 
                detained in Communist China (including Communist 
                China's Laogai prison camp system);
                    (B) the extent of Communist China's organ 
                harvesting among its prisoners of conscience; and
                    (C) the number of prisoners of conscience executed 
                in Communist China (including Communist China's Laogai 
                prison camp system);
            (4) expresses sympathy and condolences to the families of 
        prisoners of conscience who have been imprisoned, tortured, and 
        murdered by the Communist Chinese government;
            (5) calls upon Communist China to allow the USCIRF or 
        international humanitarian organizations unrestricted access to 
        current and former prisoners of conscience held in Communist 
        China's jails, prison, administrative detention centers, and 
        Laogai prison camp system; and
            (6) urges the administration to raise the issue of 
        Communist China's prisoners of conscience in high-level 
        diplomatic meetings with Communist Chinese officials.
                                 <all>
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