[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 25, 2023)] [House] [Pages H1935-H1938] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-25
Chamber: HOUSE
Mr. OWENS: I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. Mr. Speaker, we are going to switch slides here in a minute. First of all, I thank my colleagues. It has been a full day, a flying day, yet they found the time. Many would have loved to have been here-- but they had other things going on--to speak up for a young man who had the courage when many in the NBA league would not. He had the courage to stand out. He had the courage to stand up because freedom is something that many of us take for granted. He happened to be a young man at the age of 20 who stood up against the regime that he saw changing. Two years ago, he started exposing the atrocities in Communist China, a country that is very near and dear to the NBA because that is where they get a lot of funding now and where they get a lot of profits now. We can see that there are many who are playing the game and becoming very, very wealthy and becoming very, very popular and getting a lot of fame but not willing to do what Enes Kanter was able and willing to do--to give it all--because he believes so much in the idea of freedom. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my grave concerns regarding the human rights abuses discussed tonight. Once a thriving democracy, the two-decades-long ruthless regime of Erdogan has made Turkiye notorious for human rights abuses. For over a decade, former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has used his platform to speak for the voiceless who are suffering under the tyranny of Turkiye and Communist China. Turkiye's oppressive behavior does not end with Enes. Journalists, human rights activists, and protesters are jailed. His father was jailed because he spoke up here in the United States--unjustly, to say the least. Protesters are jailed without trial and labeled ``terrorists'' without evidence. Turkiye is ranked fourth globally for arresting journalists critical of the government. Turkiye's President has also weaponized the judiciary system to target opposition parties. This is not democracy. This is not what a NATO ally should be standing for or acting like.  {time}  2000  Two years ago, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkiye shut down the second largest political party. Women's rights are also under threat in Turkiye, as well. The Turkish Government withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to tackle gender-based violence. In anticipation of a formidable challenge in the upcoming general elections in Turkiye, the regime is intimidating rival parties, voters, and the press to sway the election results in the government's favor. The Biden administration and other NATO allies must condemn these heinous actions of the Turkish regime. Unfortunately, once again, President Biden is a laggard when it comes to protection of basic human rights and freedoms. Though an American citizen, Turkiye put a $500,000 bounty on Enes for calling out the abuse of power in Turkiye. President Biden, as has been noted before, has repeatedly refused to meet with our fellow citizens. He has also ignored the official requests from many of my fellow Republican colleagues to do so. The Biden administration has failed to protect one of the most fundamental rights of every American--freedom of speech. When Enes criticized the Chinese Communist Party for its brutality against its own people, the NBA abruptly ended his career. As the corporatist sports complex--NBA, NFL, and Nike--promoted the anti-flag, anti-American, BLM, Marxist movement, it was Enes Freedom who was speaking about the real human rights abuses being perpetrated by the CCP. Note here the shoe, ``end slavery.'' No slavery. That is something that you did not see on TV, I can promise you that. It was his voice that exposed the corporatist sports complex hypocrisy as they chose to turn a blind eye to the misery their business model had created for the Chinese people. Enes' criticism culminated in the CCP's demand that he be canceled. The CCP's cancellation of China's NBA TV coverage drove home the consequences of not bowing to their demands. Once the NBA acted to terminate the 11- year all-star's career, the CCP allowed NBA games to once again be aired in the Chinese market. The NBA, NFL, and Nike's decades-old partnership with the CCP has created a culture within the corporatist sports complex that can best be summarized as profit over American patriotism and profit over the Chinese people. It is a culture that has granted credibility to the Communist Chinese regime, a regime that has interned over 1 million Muslim Uyghurs. It is a culture that promoted BLM rhetoric of America's systemic racism as the global corporatists in real time profited in the billions from slavery in China. This sports complex has discovered the financial benefits of the 1800's slave trade, that when given scale, human slavery is the cheapest and most profitable labor on planet Earth. The NBA, NFL, and Nike culture of greed profit over patriotism and profits over the Chinese people has justified them closing their eyes to the genocide of the Muslim Uyghurs. It confirms that child labor, human trafficking, and organ harvesting from healthy Muslim Uyghurs is okay as long as it is out of sight and out of mind. What the voice and action of Enes Freedom did was show the hypocrisy of their virtue signaling. As the NBA handed out slogans to players on their jerseys to support Black Lives Matter, he was wearing shoes that highlighted the real issue of atrocities of slavery in China. Again, this is what was not seen on prime time TV. On a side note, and a personal note: Where are the activist voices of this corporatist sports complex as throughout our country hopeless Black youth callously kill each other by the thousands? Where are their BLM slogans and messages on the sidelines as in every urban city our education system betrays at-risk kids by the millions? Where is the presence and voice of the sports complex whose very survivaldepends on 70 to 80 percent of Black talent? Mr. Speaker, the corporatist sports complex of the NFL, NBA, Nike could care less about Black lives, Muslim lives, Asian lives, White lives, or American lives. For them, it is indeed profit that matters. If turning their backs on their loyal fans here in America and betraying the values that have made us the greatest country in the history of mankind, so be it. Profit over patriotism. One of the values that the Republican Conference holds dear and will make clear is loyalty to our fellow countrymen and women. Turkiye, remove the bounty off Enes Kanter Freedom and any other American citizen. If not, there will be legislative action from this body, I can promise you. We call on the Turkish Government to release all political prisoners and cease its persecution of the Hizmet movement and its members. We expect a NATO ally to respect free speech and assembly and to uphold its international obligations to protect human rights. Let us not be the generation that history looks back on as one of moral indifference. Let us not be the generation that is compared to the 1800s pre-Civil War era when industries flourished from the demands of cotton as they betrayed their commitment to our human rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Enes Kanter Freedom has shown the bold courage, tenacity, and empathy that defines our American way. For the millions who depend on American resolve to remain the shining city on the hill, we are committed to freedom and liberty in every corner of the world. We must stand, rise, support those Americans who speak and stand for freedom and the freedom of speech. Let's make sure as Americans we are not looked at as the one who dropped the ball in this case. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.