Union Calendar No. 181

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 967

[Report No. 105–309, Part I]

A BILL

To prohibit the use of United States funds to procluded from admission to the United States. cials shall be ineligible to receive visas and ex- activities and to provide that certain Chinese offi- cials in international conferences, programs, and vide for the participation of certain Chinese offiOCTOBER 7, 1997

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the

Union and ordered to be printedCommittee of the Whole House on the State of the
IB

Union Calendar No. 181

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 967

[Report No. 105–309, Part I]

To prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for the participation

of certain Chinese officials in international conferences, programs, and

activities and to provide that certain Chinese officials shall be ineligible

to receive visas and excluded from admission to the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 1997

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. COX of California,

Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ROHRABACHER,

Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. LANTOS) introduced the following bill; 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

OCTOBER 6, 1997

Reported from the Committee on International Relations with amendments

OCTOBER 6, 1997

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended October 6, 1997, for a

period ending not later than October 7, 1997

OCTOBER 7, 1997

Additional sponsors: Mr. WOLF, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr.

HORN, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr.

BUNNING, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado, Mr.

FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. STARK,

Mr. BLUNT, Mr. PORTER, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. SAM

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. HUNTER, and Mr. SHADEGG
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OCTOBER 7, 1997

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for

the participation of certain Chinese officials in international conferences, programs, and activities and to provide that certain Chinese officials shall be ineligible to

receive visas and excluded from admission to the United

States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress makes the following findings:

5 (1) Despite public assurances by the Govern6 ment of the People’s Republic of China that it would

7 abide by the principles of the Universal Declaration

8 of Human Rights and despite the United Nations

9 Charter requirement that all members promote re10 spect for and observance of basic human rights, in11 cluding freedom of religion, the Chinese Government

12 continues to place severe restrictions on religious ex13 pression and practice.

14 (2) It has been reported that at an internal

15 Central Communist Party meeting in 1994, Presi-
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1 dent Jiang Zemin asserted that religion is one of the

2 biggest threats to Communist Party rule in China

3 and Tibet.

4 (3) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Peng

5 signed decrees number 144 and 145 which restrict

6 worship, religious education, distribution of Bibles

7 and other religious literature, and contact with for8 eign coreligionists.

9 (4) The Chinese Government has created offi10 cial religious organizations that control all religious

11 worship, activity, and association in China and Tibet

12 and supplant the independent authority of the

13 Roman Catholic Church, independent Protestant

14 churches, and independent Buddhist, Taoist, and Is15 lamic associations.

16 (5) In July 1995, Ye Xiaowen, a rigid com17 munist hostile to religion, was appointed to head the

18 Bureau of Religious Affairs, a Chinese Government

19 agency controlled by the United Front Work Depart20 ment of the Chinese Communist Party. The Bureau

21 of Religious Affairs has administrative control over

22 all religious worship and activity in China and Tibet

23 through a system of granting or denying rights

24 through an official registration system. Those who
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1 fail to or are not allowed to register are subject to

2 punitive measures.

3 (6) In the past year, the Chinese Government

4 has expressed great concern over the spread of

5 Christianity and particularly over the rapid growth

6 of Christian religious institutions other than those

7 controlled by the Chinese Government, including the

8 Roman Catholic Church and the evangelical Chris9 tian ‘‘house churches’’.

10 (7) Soon after the establishment of the People’s

11 Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government

12 imprisoned Christians who refused to relinquish

13 their faith to become servants of communism, charg14 ing them as ‘‘counter-revolutionaries’’ and sentenc15 ing them to 20 years or more in ‘‘reeducation

16 through labor camps’’.

17 (8) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and

18 Catholics are among those now imprisoned, detained,

19 or continuously harassed because of their religious

20 beliefs or activities.

21 (9) The prisons and labor camps which hold

22 these religious prisoners are run by the Ministry of

23 Public Security and the Ministry of Justice of the

24 Chinese Government.
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1 (10) Although some negotiations have taken

2 place, the Chinese Government refuses to permit the

3 appointment by the Vatican of Catholic bishops and

4 the ordination of priests not approved by the Gov5 ernment and insists on appointing its own ‘‘Catholic

6 bishops’’.

7 (11) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January

8 1989 at Tashilhunpo Monastery, his traditional spir9 itual seat in Shigatze, Tibet’s second largest city.

10 (12) It has always been the right and the role

11 of the Dalai Lama to recognize the successor to the

12 Panchen Lama. On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the

13 Dalai Lama announced recognition of a six-year-old

14 boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Eleventh Pan15 chen Lama, according to Tibetan tradition.

16 (13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai

17 Lama and his family have been brought to Beijing

18 by Chinese authorities and have not been seen for

19 months. The Chinese authorities announced publicly

20 in June 1996 that they are holding Gedhun Choekyi

21 Nyima.

22 (14) Chadrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashilhunpo

23 Monastery and head of the original search commit24 tee for the Eleventh Panchen Lama, and his assist25 ant, Champa Chung, are believed to have been
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1 seized and detained by Chinese authorities in May of

2 1995.

3 (15) Chinese Government authorities subse4 quently detained other Tibetan Buddhists in connec5 tion with the selection of the Eleventh Panchen

6 Lama, including Gyatrol Rimposhe, Shepa Kelsang,

7 Lhakpa Tsering, and Ringkar Ngawang.

8 (16) The Chinese Government convened a con9 ference in Beijing where Tibetan monks were co10 erced to select a rival candidate to the child recog11 nized by the Dalai Lama as the Eleventh Panchen

12 Lama.

13 (17) On November 29, 1995, officials of the

14 Chinese Government orchestrated an elaborate cere15 mony designating a six-year-old boy selected by the

16 Chinese Government as the Eleventh Panchen Lama

17 and on December 8, 1995, a Government-sponsored

18 ceremony was held in Shigatze, Tibet, where the boy

19 selected by the Government was enthroned as the

20 Eleventh Panchen Lama.

21 (18) By seeking to impose its own candidate as

22 the Eleventh Panchen Lama and detaining the six23 year-old boy recognized for that position in accord24 ance with Tibetan tradition, the Chinese Govern25 ment is infringing on a purely Tibetan religious mat-
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1 ter, in blatant violation of the fundamental human

2 rights of the Tibetan people.

3 SEC. 2. SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF POL4 ICY.

5 It is the sense of the Congress that the President

6 should make freedom of religion one of the major objec7 tives of United States foreign policy with respect to China.

8 As part of this policy, the Department of State should

9 raise in every relevant bilateral and multilateral forum the

10 issue of individuals imprisoned, detained, confined, or oth11 erwise harassed by the Chinese Government on religious

12 grounds. In its communications with the Chinese Govern13 ment, the Department of State should provide specific

14 names of individuals of concern and request a complete

15 and timely response from the Chinese Government regard16 ing the individuals’ whereabouts and condition, the

17 charges against them, and sentence imposed. The goal of

18 these official communications should be the expeditious re19 lease of all religious prisoners in China and Tibet and the

20 end of the Chinese Government’s policy and practice of

21 harassing and repressing religious believers.
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1 SEC. 3. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR THE

2 PARTICIPATION OF CERTAIN CHINESE OFFI3 CIALS IN CONFERENCES, EXCHANGES, PRO4 GRAMS, AND ACTIVITIES.

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, for fiscal years after fiscal year 1997, no funds

7 appropriated or otherwise made available for the Depart8 ment of State, the United States Information Agency, and

9 the United States Agency for International Development

10 may be used for the purpose of providing travel expenses

11 and per diem for the participation of nationals of the Peo12 ple’s Republic of China described in paragraphs (1) and

13 (2) in conferences, exchanges, programs, and activities:

14 (1) The head or political secretary of any of the

15 following Chinese Government-created or approved

16 organizations:

17 (A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.

18 (B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Asso19 ciation.

20 (C) The National Congress of Catholic

21 Representatives.

22 (D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Con23 ference.

24 (E) The Chinese Protestant ‘‘Three Self’’

25 Patriotic Movement.

26 (F) The China Christian Council.
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1 (G) The Chinese Taoist Association.

2 (H) The Chinese Islamic Association.

3 (2) Any military or civilian official or employee

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

5 who is directly involved in carried out or directed the

6 carrying out of any of the following policies or prac7 tices or who was responsible for the supervision of

8 persons directly involved in such policies or prac9 tices:

10 (A) Formulating, drafting, or implement11 ing repressive religious policies.

12 (B) Imprisoning, detaining, or harassing

13 individuals on religious grounds.

14 (C) Promoting or participating in policies

15 or practices which hinder religious activities or

16 the free expression of religious beliefs.

17 (b) CERTIFICATION.—

18 (1) Each Federal agency subject to the prohibi19 tion of subsection (a) shall certify in writing to the

20 appropriate congressional committees no later than

21 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

22 and every 90 days thereafter, that it did not pay, ei23 ther directly or through a contractor or grantee, for

24 travel expenses or per diem of any national of the
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1 People’s Republic of China described in subsection

2 (a).

3 (2) Each certification under paragraph (1) shall

4 be supported by the following information:

5 (A) The name of each employee of any

6 agency of the Government of the People’s Re7 public of China whose travel expenses or per

8 diem were paid by funds of the reporting agen9 cy of the United States Government.

10 (B) The procedures employed by the re11 porting agency of the United States Govern12 ment to ascertain whether each individual

13 under subparagraph (A) did or did not partici14 pate in activities described in subsection (a)(2).

15 (C) The reporting agency’s basis for con16 cluding that each individual under subpara17 graph (A) did not participate in such activities.

18 (c) DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL

19 COMMITTEES.—For purposes of this section the term ‘‘ap20 propriate congressional committees’’ means the Commit21 tee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee

22 on International Relations of the House of Representa23 tives.
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1 SEC. 4. SEC. 3. CERTAIN OFFICIALS OF THE PEOPLE’S RE2 PUBLIC OF CHINA INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE

3 VISAS AND EXCLUDED FROM ADMISSION.

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any na5 tional of the People’s Republic of China described in para6 graphs (1) or (2) of section 3(a) shall be ineligible to re7 ceive visas and shall be excluded from admission into the

8 United States.

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding any other pro10 vision of law, any national of the People’s Republic of

11 China described in section 2(a)(2) (except the head of state,

12 the head of government, and cabinet level ministers) shall

13 be ineligible to receive visas and shall be excluded from ad14 mission into the United States.

15 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the require16 ment in subsection (a) with respect to an individual de17 scribed in such subsection if the President—

18 (1) determines that it is vital to the national in19 terest to do so; and

20 (2) provides written notification to the appro21 priate congressional committees (as defined in section

22 2(c)) containing a justification for the waiver.

23 SEC. 5. SEC. 4. SUNSET PROVISION.

24 Sections 3 and 4 2 and 3 shall cease to have effect

25 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.