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) sub-
mitted 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 world-
wide 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;
•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 si-
lence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemoc-
racy groups inside the United States;
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 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 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;
•HCON 447 IH
Whereas in November 2000, the former Mayor of Saratoga,
California, Stan Bogosian, issued a proclamation hon-
oring 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 ac-
tivities;
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 rela-
tionships as the motivation for some local United States
officials to recant their support for Falun Gong after re-
ceiving 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 demonstra-
tion 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
•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 be-
liefs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the 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;
(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,
•HCON 447 IH
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 of the United States should,
in accordance with section 401(a)(1)(B) of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
USC 6401 et seq.), and with the intention of dis-
suading the Chinese Government from attempting to
stifle religious freedom 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
•HCON 447 IH
for acts of violence and persecution in the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China;
(3) the Attorney General of the United States
should investigate reports that Chinese consular offi-
cials in the United States have committed illegal
acts while attempting to intimidate or inappropri-
ately influence Falun Gong practitioners or local
elected officials, and, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of State, determine an appropriate legal re-
sponse; and
(4) officials of local governments in the United
States should—
(A) in accordance with local statutes and
procedures, recognize and support organizations
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 of the United States, and the United
States Secretary of State.
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