IV

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 447

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Chinese Government’s

oppression of Falun Gong in the United States and in the People’s

Republic of China.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 24, 2002

Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. HILLIARD, Ms. LEE, and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee

on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Chinese

Government’s oppression of Falun Gong in the United

States and in the People’s Republic of China.

Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual movement that

originated in China but has grown in popularity worldwide and is now accepted and practiced by thousands in

the United States;

Whereas demonstrations by Falun Gong practitioners in the

People’s Republic of China and the United States have

been peaceful, meditative sessions;
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•HCON 447 IH

Whereas the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China

provides to the citizens of that country freedom of

speech, assembly, association, and religious belief;

Whereas members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement,

members of Chinese prodemocracy groups, and advocates

of human rights reform in the People’s Republic of China

have been harassed, libeled, imprisoned, and beaten for

demonstrating peacefully inside that country;

Whereas the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States;

Whereas Chinese consular officials have pressured local elected officials in the United States to refuse or withdraw

support for the Falun Gong spiritual group;

Whereas individuals that physically harassed Falun Gong

practitioners in San Francisco, California, on October 22,

2000, were later seen at anti-Falun Gong meetings and

the Chinese consulate in San Francisco;

Whereas San Francisco City Supervisor Chris Daly, after receiving complaints that Chinese officials were intimidating his constituents, authored a resolution condemning human rights violations and persecution of

Falun Gong members by the Chinese Government;

Whereas Mr. Daly and the other members of the San Francisco City Council subsequently received a letter from the

Chinese consul general in San Francisco, claiming that

Falun Gong was an ‘‘evil cult’’ that was undermining the

‘‘normal social order’’ in the People’s Republic of China,

and that Mr. Daly’s resolution should therefore be rejected, which it subsequently was;
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•HCON 447 IH

Whereas in November 2000, the former Mayor of Saratoga,

California, Stan Bogosian, issued a proclamation honoring the contributions of Falun Gong practitioners to

the Saratoga community;

Whereas Mr. Bogosian was given a letter from the Chinese

consul in San Francisco that strongly urged Mr.

Bogosian to retract his support for local Falun Gong activities;

Whereas many local and national media organizations have

reported that other local officials across the United

States, including the mayors of several major cities, have

been pressured by Chinese consular officials to recant

statements of support for the Falun Gong spiritual

group;

Whereas the United States and the People’s Republic of

China have developed an extensive trading relationship

that is beneficial to local communities in both countries;

Whereas journalists have cited fear of hurting trading relationships as the motivation for some local United States

officials to recant their support for Falun Gong after receiving pressure from Chinese consular officials;

Whereas notwithstanding rights provided by the Consitution

of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of

that country has repeatedly and consistently suppressed

expression by its citizens of freedom of religion, speech,

press, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration inside the People’s Republic of China, and is now

projecting its restrictive practices into the local affairs of

the United States; and

Whereas the Constitution of the United States guarantees

freedom of religion, the right to assemble, and the right
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•HCON 447 IH

to speak freely, and the people of the United States

strongly value protecting the ability of all people to live

without fear and in accordance with their personal beliefs: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) the Government of the People’s Republic of

4 China should—

5 (A) immediately stop interfering in the ex6 ercise of religious and political freedoms within

7 the United States, such as the right to practice

8 Falun Gong, that are guaranteed by the United

9 States Constitution;

10 (B) cease using the diplomatic missions in

11 the United States to spread falsehoods about

12 the nature of Falun Gong;

13 (C) release from detention all prisoners of

14 conscience, including practitioners of Falun

15 Gong, who have been incarcerated in violation

16 of their rights as expressed in the Constitution

17 of the People’s Republic of China;

18 (D) immediately end the harassment, de19 tention, physical abuse, and imprisonment of in20 dividuals who are exercising their legitimate

21 rights to freedom of religion, including the

22 practices of Falun Gong, freedom of expression,
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•HCON 447 IH

1 and freedom of association as stated in the

2 Constitution of the People’s Republic of China;

3 and

4 (E) demonstrate its willingness to abide by

5 international standards of freedom of belief, ex6 pression, and association by ceasing to restrict

7 those freedoms in the People’s Republic of

8 China;

9 (2) the President of the United States should,

10 in accordance with section 401(a)(1)(B) of the

11 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22

12 USC 6401 et seq.), and with the intention of dis13 suading the Chinese Government from attempting to

14 stifle religious freedom in the People’s Republic of

15 China and the United States, take action such as—

16 (A) issuing an official public demarche, a

17 formal protest, to the Chinese Foreign Ministry

18 in response to the repeated violations by the

19 Chinese Government of basic human rights pro20 tected in international covenants to which the

21 People’s Republic of China is a signatory; and

22 (B) working more closely with Chinese

23 human rights activists to identify Chinese au24 thorities who have been personally responsible
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•HCON 447 IH

1 for acts of violence and persecution in the Peo2 ple’s Republic of China;

3 (3) the Attorney General of the United States

4 should investigate reports that Chinese consular offi5 cials in the United States have committed illegal

6 acts while attempting to intimidate or inappropri7 ately influence Falun Gong practitioners or local

8 elected officials, and, in consultation with the Sec9 retary of State, determine an appropriate legal re10 sponse; and

11 (4) officials of local governments in the United

12 States should—

13 (A) in accordance with local statutes and

14 procedures, recognize and support organizations

15 and individuals that share the goals of all or

16 part of the local community, including Falun

17 Gong practitioners; and

18 (B) report incidents of pressure or harass19 ment by agents of the People’s Republic of

20 China to Members of Congress, the Attorney

21 General of the United States, and the United

22 States Secretary of State.

Æ