108TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 304
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual movement that
originated in the People’s Republic of 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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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 pro-democracy groups, and advo-
cates of human rights reform in the People’s Republic of
China have been harassed, libeled, imprisoned, and beat-
en for demonstrating peacefully inside that country;
Whereas the Chinese Government has also attempted to si-
lence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemoc-
racy groups inside the United States;
Whereas on June 12, 2003, 38 Members of Congress filed an
Amended Brief of Amicus Curiae in support of the Falun
Gong at the United States District Court, Northeastern
District of Illinois, Eastern Division;
Whereas Chinese consular officials have pressured local elect-
ed officials in the United States to refuse or withdraw
support for the Falun Gong spiritual group;
Whereas Dr. Charles Lee, a United States citizen, has report-
edly been mentally and physically tortured since being de-
tained by Chinese authorities in early 2003;
Whereas the apartment of Ms. Gail Rachlin, the Falun Gong
spokeswoman in the United States, has been broken into
5 times by agents of the Chinese regime since the regime
banned Falun Gong in 1999 in China;
Whereas over the past 5 years China’s diplomatic corps has
been actively involved in harassing and persecuting Falun
Gong practitioners in the United States;
Whereas on June 23, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners were
attacked outside a Chinese restaurant in New York City
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by local United States-based individuals with reported
ties to the Chinese Government;
Whereas 5 Falun Gong practitioners were assaulted outside
of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago on September 7,
2001, while exercising their constitutionally protected
rights to free speech, leading to battery convictions in
Cook County Criminal Court of Jiming Zheng on Novem-
ber 13, 2002, and Yujun Weng on December 5, 2002,
both assailants being members of a Chinese-American or-
ganization in Chicago, the Mid-USA Fujian Township
Association, which maintains close ties with the Chinese
Consulate;
Whereas individuals that physically harassed Falun Gong
practitioners in San Francisco 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 re-
ceiving complaints that Chinese officials were intimi-
dating his constituents, authored a resolution con-
demning human rights violations and persecution of
Falun Gong members by the Chinese Government;
Whereas Mr. Daly and the other members of the San Fran-
cisco 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 re-
jected, which it subsequently was;
Whereas in November 2000, the former Mayor of Saratoga,
California, Stan Bogosian, issued a proclamation hon-
oring the contributions of Falun Gong practitioners to
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the Saratoga community, which prompted the Chinese
Consulate in San Francisco to write to Mr. Bogosian
urging him 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;
Whereas journalists have cited fear of hurting trade relation-
ships as the motivation for some local United States offi-
cials to recant their support for Falun Gong after receiv-
ing pressure from Chinese consular officials; and
Whereas the Constitution of the United States guarantees
freedom of religion, the right to assemble, and the right
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 be-
liefs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the Government of the People’s Republic of
China should—
(A) immediately stop interfering in the ex-
ercise of religious and political freedoms within
the United States, such as the right to practice
Falun Gong, that are guaranteed by the United
States Constitution;
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(B) cease using the diplomatic missions in
the United States to spread falsehoods about
the nature of Falun Gong;
(C) release from detention all prisoners of
conscience, including practitioners of Falun
Gong, who have been incarcerated in violation
of their rights as expressed in the Constitution
of the People’s Republic of China;
(D) immediately end the harassment, de-
tention, physical abuse, and imprisonment of in-
dividuals who are exercising their legitimate
rights to freedom of religion, including the
practices of Falun Gong, freedom of expression,
and freedom of association as stated in the
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China;
and
(E) demonstrate its willingness to abide by
international standards of freedom of belief, ex-
pression, and association by ceasing to restrict
those freedoms in the People’s Republic of
China;
(2) the President should, in accordance with
section 401(a)(1)(B) of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)(1)(B)),
and with the intention of dissuading the Chinese
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Government from attempting to stifle religious free-
dom in the People’s Republic of China and the
United States, take action such as—
(A) issuing an official public demarche, a
formal protest, to the Chinese Foreign Ministry
in response to the repeated violations by the
Chinese Government of basic human rights pro-
tected in international covenants to which the
People’s Republic of China is a signatory; and
(B) working more closely with Chinese
human rights activists to identify Chinese au-
thorities who have been personally responsible
for acts of violence and persecution in the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China;
(3) the Attorney General should investigate re-
ports that Chinese consular officials in the United
States have committed illegal acts while attempting
to intimidate or inappropriately influence Falun
Gong practitioners or local elected officials, and, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, determine
an appropriate legal response; and
(4) officials of local governments in the United
States should—
(A) in accordance with local statutes and
procedures, recognize and support organizations
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and individuals that share the goals of all or
part of the local community, including Falun
Gong practitioners; and
(B) report incidents of pressure or harass-
ment by agents of the People’s Republic of
China to Members of Congress, the Attorney
General, and the Secretary of State.
Passed the House of Representatives October 4,
2004.
Attest:
Clerk.