IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 434 
Condemning violence against religious minorities in the People’s Republic 
of China and any actions that limit the free expression and practice 
of faith by these minorities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 11, 2017 
Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia (for himself, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. LAM-
BORN, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. KING of Iowa, and Mr. 
HULTGREN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning violence against religious minorities in the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China and any actions that limit the 
free expression and practice of faith by these minorities. 
Whereas international law recognizes the right to religious 
liberty and the right to worship and manifest one’s faith 
of choice freely without fear of discrimination; 
Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights states that ‘‘everyone has the right to freedom of 
thought, conscience and religion; this right includes free-
dom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either 
alone or in community with others and in public or pri-
vate, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, prac-
tice, worship and observance’’; 
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•HRES 434 IH 
Whereas the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR) adopted by the United Nations General 
Assembly in 1966 states that ‘‘everyone shall have the 
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This 
right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion 
or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or 
in community with others and in public or private, to 
manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, 
practice and teaching . . . [and] no one shall be subject 
to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to 
adopt a religion or belief of his choice’’; 
Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Re-
public of China of 1982 states that ‘‘Citizens of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. 
No state organ, public organization or individual may 
compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any reli-
gion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who be-
lieve in, any religion.’’; 
Whereas the rights and safety of religious minorities in the 
People’s Republic of China have increasingly come under 
attack over the last several years with many religious mi-
norities being singled out and specifically targeted be-
cause of their faiths; 
Whereas Freedom House has labeled persecution of Chris-
tians in the People’s Republic of China as ‘‘high’’ on its 
spectrum of religious persecution; 
Whereas there are nearly 90,000,000 Christians in the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China and the country is anticipated to 
have the largest group of Christians in the world by the 
year 2030; 
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•HRES 434 IH 
Whereas in 2015 China Aid reported an 11-percent increase 
in persecution cases from 2014 and a 709-percent in-
crease from 2008; 
Whereas Chinese state officials have attempted to require 
that churches must be state-approved Three Self Patri-
otic Movement (TSPM) churches which must submit all 
sermons for government approval, and whose religious 
services must be monitored by the government’s depart-
ment of religion; 
Whereas churches not designated as TSPM churches may be 
designated as an ‘‘evil cult’’ by the Chinese government 
which maintains unmitigated powers to imprison and 
physically interrogate any person found associated with a 
group or church designated as an ‘‘evil cult’’; 
Whereas the Chinese government arrested over 300 human 
rights lawyers in 2015, subjecting many to months or 
years of detention; 
Whereas 40 Christian parishioners of the Shuangmiao Chris-
tian Church in China’s Henan province were forcibly re-
moved from their house of worship and dragged into the 
street on May 5, 2017, and forced to watch as nearly 300 
police officers and public officials razed the church build-
ing; 
Whereas dozens of these parishioners were beaten and ar-
rested by public officials; 
Whereas public officials branded the building an ‘‘illegal 
structure’’; 
Whereas public officials confiscated parishioner’s phones, 
laptops, money, jewelry, and other personal property, and 
stole money found in the churches locked offering box; 
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•HRES 434 IH 
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International Reli-
gious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–292), mak-
ing it the official policy of the United States ‘‘to condemn 
violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and to 
assist other governments in the promotion of, the funda-
mental right to freedom of religion’’ and to ‘‘[stand] for 
liberty and [stand] with the persecuted, to use and imple-
ment appropriate tools in the United States foreign policy 
apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, 
charitable, educational, and cultural channels, to promote 
respect for religious freedom by all governments and peo-
ples’’; 
Whereas the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
watch list designates China as a ‘‘country of particular 
concern’’ due to ‘‘particularly severe violations of reli-
gious freedom’’; 
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf 
International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114– 
281) in 2016 to amend the International Religious Free-
dom Act of 1998 to enhance the capabilities of the 
United States to advance religious liberty globally 
through diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and for-
eign assistance; and 
Whereas the United States must show strong international 
leadership when it comes to the advancement of religious 
freedoms, liberties, and protections: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns violence against religious 
minorities in the People’s Republic of China and any 
actions that limit the free expression and practice of 
faith by these minorities; 
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•HRES 434 IH 
(2) reaffirms the commitment of the United 
States to promoting religious freedom and tolerance 
around the world and helping to provide protection 
and relief to religious minorities facing persecution 
and violence; 
(3) calls on the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China to uphold the Chinese Constitution 
in addition to the internationally recognized human 
right to freedom from religious persecution and to 
end all forms of violence and discrimination against 
religious minorities; and 
(4) urges the President to take appropriate ac-
tions to promote religious freedom of religious mi-
norities in the People’s Republic of China, using the 
powers provided to the President under the Inter-
national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public 
Law 105–292) and the Frank R. Wolf International 
Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114–281). 
Æ 
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