I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2522 
To designate the area between the intersections of 18th Street Northwest 
and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and P Street 
Northwest, in the District of Columbia as ‘‘Jimmy Lai Way’’, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 31, 2025 
Mr. 
SMITH
of 
New 
Jersey 
(for 
himself, 
Mr. 
MOOLENAAR, 
Mr. 
KRISHNAMOORTHI, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To designate the area between the intersections of 18th 
Street Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 
18th Street Northwest and P Street Northwest, in the 
District of Columbia as ‘‘Jimmy Lai Way’’, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. CONDEMNING THE ARBITARY DETENTION OF 
JIMMY LAI IN HONG KONG. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, a Hong Kong democ-
racy advocate, media entrepreneur, and a British 
citizen, has been in prison since December 2020 on 
multiple fabricated charges, and is serving a sen-
tence of almost 6 years in prison under politically 
motivated fraud charges, concurrently serving two 
other sentences, one for joining a vigil to mark the 
1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and another for 
participating in peaceful protests in 2019. 
(2) Jimmy Lai is held in solitary confinement 
for 23 hours and 10 minutes each day, with only 50 
minutes for restricted exercise and limited human 
contact or access to daylight. He suffers from diabe-
tes and has experienced significant weight loss and 
increasing frailty since being imprisoned. He was de-
nied access to independent medical care. 
(3) The Apple Daily newspaper which Jimmy 
Lai founded and published was forced by the au-
thorities in Hong Kong to close in June 2021, and 
the parent company Next Media was delisted from 
the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under government 
coercion in January 2023, severely restricting the 
free flow of news and information that undergirded 
Hong Kong role as a major financial center. 
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(4) On August 10, 2020, Lai was charged with 
‘‘collusion with a foreign country or with external 
elements to endanger national security’’ under Arti-
cle 29 of the National Security Law, charges levied 
in part because of meetings taken with United 
States officials, including those during the first Ad-
ministration of President Donald J. Trump (2016– 
2020) and supporting publicly the policies pursued 
at that time by the Administration. 
(5) Jimmy Lai’s meetings with former United 
States Government officials and public figures, in-
cluding the Vice President, Secretary of State, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Con-
sul-General in Hong Kong have been cited by the 
prosecution in the court proceedings. 
(6) Lai trial under the National Security Law 
began in December 2023 and is ongoing. 
(7) A group of United Nations experts, being 
alarmed by multiple and serious violations of Lai’s 
rights, including the right to a fair trial and access 
to a lawyer of his own choosing, called for his imme-
diate release. 
(8) The minimum sentence required under the 
National Security Law is 10 years imprisonment, 
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and therefore it is possible that Lai could spend the 
rest of his life behind bars. 
(9) In 1997, the United Kingdom transferred 
sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Repub-
lic of China (PRC) with guaranteed that funda-
mental rights are protected under both the Sino- 
British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which 
enumerate specific rights and freedoms including 
those of speech, of the press, and of assembly. 
(10) The Government of the People’s Republic 
of China has repeatedly undermined Hong Kong’s 
autonomy since, in particular since the Umbrella 
Movement protests in 2014, the mass prodemocracy 
protests in 2019, and the imposition of the draco-
nian National Security Law in 2020. 
(11) Since its enactment in June 2020, the Na-
tional Security Law, unilaterally passed by the Na-
tional People’s Congress Standing Committee and 
enforced by officials in Hong Kong as a pretext to 
repress legitimate and peaceful speech, assembly, 
and expression of political opinions. 
(12) Jimmy Lai stands for the values of democ-
racy, human rights, respect for the rule of law, reli-
gious freedom, freedom of expression, and media 
freedom, and is prosecuted and persecuted by the 
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PRC’s proxies in Hong Kong solely because of his 
opinions and activities in pursuit of these values. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Congress— 
(1) condemns the unjust imprisonment, mis-
treatment, and the show trial of United Kingdom 
citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong; 
(2) calls upon the Hong Kong authorities to re-
lease Jimmy Lai immediately and unconditionally 
and cease prosecuting him and others charged under 
the National Security Law; 
(3) reaffirms the importance of the freedom of 
speech and the right of publishers, journalists, and 
media workers in Hong Kong and around the world 
to operate free from intimidation, harassment, re-
pression, censorship, and fear; 
(4) recognizes that the severe restrictions on 
the free flow of news and information from Hong 
Kong impacts the ability of individuals, corporations, 
and diplomats to make decisions about travel, invest-
ments, and political conditions in Hong Kong; 
(5) urges the Secretary of State and other rel-
evant Department of State officials to advocate for 
the release of Jimmy Lai by raising his case with of-
ficials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re-
gion and People’s Republic of China; 
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