Falun Gong Protection Act
Bill: H.R.6319 | Sponsor: Rep. Perry, Scott (R-PA)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Falun Gong Protection Act
This bill requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons that are knowingly responsible for, are complicit in, or have engaged in the involuntary harvesting of organs in China. The sanctions shall not apply to certain activities, such as authorized U.S. intelligence or law enforcement activities.
The President must (1) maintain an updated list of foreign persons subject to the sanctions, and (2) impose the sanctions according to the most recent version of the list.

To provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to forced organ 
    harvesting within the People's Republic of China, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Falun Gong Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Falun Gong is a spiritual practice in the Buddhist 
        tradition that espouses the principles of truthfulness, 
        compassion, and forbearance. The practice was introduced in 
        China by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992 and aims to improve physical, 
        psychological, and spiritual well-being through exercise, 
        meditation, and moral improvement.
            (2) On July 20, 1999, after years of escalating harassment 
        by the government, then-General Secretary Jiang Zemin launched 
        an intensive, nationwide persecution designed to eradicate 
        Falun Gong. Since then, the People's Republic of China (PRC) 
        has detained hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners.
            (3) In its 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom, 
        released on May 12, 2021, the Department of State stated in its 
        entry on China, ``Prior to the government's 1999 ban on Falun 
        Gong, the government estimated there were 70 million adherents. 
        Falun Gong sources estimate tens of millions continue to 
        practice privately, and Freedom House estimates seven to 20 
        million practitioners.''.
            (4) Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2021 report 
        entry on China stated that ``the regime's campaign to eradicate 
        the Falun Gong spiritual group continued in 2020. Hundreds of 
        Falun Gong practitioners have received long prison terms in 
        recent years, and many others are arbitrarily detained in 
        various `legal education' facilities. Detainees typically face 
        torture aimed at forcing them to abandon their beliefs, 
        sometimes resulting in deaths in custody.''.
            (5) In its 2021 report, the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom stated in its key findings for 
        China, ``according to reports, thousands of Falun Gong 
        practitioners were harassed and arrested during 2020 for 
        practicing their faith, and some likely died due to abuse and 
        torture while in custody. Credible international reports also 
        suggested that organ harvesting, including from Falun Gong 
        practitioners, likely continued.''.
            (6) The widespread, systematic, state-sponsored persecution 
        of the Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party leadership of 
        the PRC constitutes a clear violation of Falun Gong 
        practitioners' basic human rights and may constitute genocide.
            (7) The campaign against Falun Gong is overseen by central 
        branches of the Chinese Communist Party, including the so-
        called ``Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with 
        Heretical Religions''. On May 12, 2021, Yu Hui, a former Office 
        Director of this group, was targeted for sanctions by the 
        United States Government.
            (8) Reports, such as those mentioned in this legislation, 
        suggest that China's organ transplantation system does not 
        comply with the majority of the World Health Organization's 
        Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ 
        Transplantation, insofar as organs are said to be primarily 
        sourced from prisoners without voluntary consent, organs are 
        reported to be traded for payment, the level of transparency 
        and traceability in the organ procurement process is low, and 
        the Chinese Communist Party has prevented independent or 
        impartial inspection, scrutiny and verification of its 
        transplant system.
            (9) On June 14, 2021, a joint statement by United Nations 
        human rights experts expressed extreme alarm over ``reports of 
        alleged `organ harvesting' targeting minorities, including 
        Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and 
        Christians in detention in China''.
            (10) Based on independent research and official statistics, 
        it is clear that many organ transplants conducted in the PRC do 
        not meet internationally accepted ethical standards.
            (11) Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2021 report 
        entry on China stated that ``The government claims it has ended 
        the transplantation of organs from executed prisoners. However, 
        the scale of the transplantation industry and the speed with 
        which some organs are procured far exceed what is feasible via 
        the country's nascent voluntary donation system and there is 
        growing international attention to possible crimes against 
        humanity in connection with the practice.''.
            (12) A 2019 forensic statistical analysis of organ donation 
        data in the PRC, published in the BMC Medical Ethics journal, 
        concluded the following: ``China's apparent systematic 
        falsification of national organ donation data severely 
        undermines the good faith efforts being made to integrate China 
        into the international transplantation community.''.
            (13) The United States had approximately 145 million 
        registered organ donors in 2019: 19,257 persons donated their 
        organs, resulting in 39,719 transplants; the ratio of actual 
        donors to registered donors is approximately 0.00013. Similar 
        ratios are observed in the United Kingdom, Canada and other 
        countries. By contrast, the PRC claimed to have more than 
        900,000 registered organ donors by early 2019; data from China 
        also indicates 5,818 organ donors and 19,454 transplants in 
        2019, resulting in a ratio of actual donors to registered 
        donors of 0.0057. Although this comparison does not control for 
        other possible variables, the fact that China's nascent organ 
        donation program yielded 44 times more organ donors from its 
        organ donation pool than that of the United States in 2019 
        merits international scrutiny.
            (14) Credible evidence suggests that Falun Gong 
        practitioners are subject to widespread forced organ harvesting 
        and are specifically targeted for this barbaric practice.
            (15) In January of 2007, Canadian human rights attorney 
        David Matas and former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia 
        Pacific region David Kilgour published findings confirming the 
        likelihood that forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong 
        practitioners was occurring in China. They also concluded that 
        there was no evidence of a voluntary donation system in the PRC 
        at the time and that, in spite of this, the Chinese Government 
        reported a dramatic escalation in its organ transplantation 
        infrastructure (a three-fold increase) between 1999 and 2004, 
        parallel to the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong.
            (16) In 2016, Matas, Kilgour, and investigative journalist 
        Ethan Gutmann published an exhaustive report concluding that it 
        is likely that between 60,000 and 100,000 organ transplants had 
        been conducted per year since 2000, and that Falun Gong 
        practitioners are the main source of organs for transplant in 
        China.
            (17) In its annual report for 2020, the Congressional-
        Executive Commission on China referenced reports raising 
        concerns about the PRC falsifying organ donation data, casting 
        additional doubt on the CCP's claim to have ended forced organ 
        harvesting.
            (18) On March 1, 2020, the Independent Tribunal into Forced 
        Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China, an 
        investigative entity known as a people's tribunal commissioned 
        by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in 
        China, composed of relevant legal, cultural, and medical 
        experts and led by Sir Geoffrey Nice, released its final 
        judgment, including--
                    (A) very large numbers of transplant operations 
                have been carried out in the PRC. The Tribunal assessed 
                as credible the numbers of operations being between 
                60,000 and 90,000 annually in the years 2000 to 2014. 
                The number of eligible registered donors was reportedly 
                5,146 in 2017, leaving an incomprehensible gap;
                    (B) ``Forced organ harvesting has been committed 
                for years throughout China on a significant scale and 
                that Falun Gong practitioners have been one--and 
                probably the main--source of organ supply'';
                    (C) ``Falun Gong practitioners in detention were 
                systematically subjected to blood tests and organ 
                examinations'' while other prisoners were not tested, 
                suggesting that Falun Gong practitioners were 
                specifically selected or targeted for these medical 
                examinations; and
                    (D) ``. . . the PRC and its leaders actively 
                incited the persecution, the imprisonment, murder, 
                torture and the humiliation of Falun Gong practitioners 
                with the sole purpose of eliminating the practice of, 
                and belief in, the value of Falun Gong.''.
            (19) The international nongovernmental organization Doctors 
        Against Forced Organ Harvesting presented a petition with over 
        three million signatures collected worldwide between 2012 to 
        2018 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 
        calling for an investigation into forced organ harvesting of 
        Falun Gong that went unheeded.
            (20) In June 2016, the House of Representatives passed its 
        fifth resolution condemning China's persecution of Falun Gong 
        with H. Res. 343 114, ``Expressing concern regarding persistent 
        and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ 
        harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the 
        People's Republic of China, including from large numbers of 
        Falun Gong practitioners and members of other religious and 
        ethnic minority groups'' and calling for an end to the 
        ``eradication'' campaign of Falun Gong and forced organ 
        harvesting.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) killing a human being through involuntary organ 
        extraction is an egregious violation of universal standards of 
        medical ethics and is in direct contradiction of basic 
        standards of human decency;
            (2) the forced harvesting of organs violates Article 3 of 
        the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that 
        ``Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of 
        person.'', and Article 4, which states that ``No one shall be 
        held in slavery or servitude.'';
            (3) the United Nations Human Rights Council should issue a 
        formal condemnation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for 
        its persecution of Falun Gong;
            (4) any collaboration with or participation in the PRC's 
        organ transplant system by the United States Government or a 
        United States person or organization presents serious ethical 
        challenges that would jeopardize the integrity of the United 
        States organ transplantation system; and
            (5) the Chinese Communist Party's state-sponsored 
        persecution of Falun Gong must come to an immediate end.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) avoid any cooperation with the PRC in the organ 
        transplantation field while the Chinese Communist Party remains 
        in power;
            (2) take appropriate measures, including using relevant 
        sanctions authorities, to coerce the Chinese Communist Party to 
        end any state-sponsored organ harvesting campaign; and
            (3) work with allies, partners, and multilateral 
        institutions to highlight China's persecution of Falun Gong and 
        coordinate closely with the international community on targeted 
        sanctions and visa restrictions.

SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING 
              WITHIN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

    (a) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose the 
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign 
person included in the most recent list submitted pursuant to 
subsection (b).
    (b) List of Persons.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a list of foreign persons, 
        including senior government officials, military leaders, and 
        other persons who the President determines are knowingly 
        responsible for or complicit in, or have directly or indirectly 
        engaged in, the involuntary harvesting of organs within the 
        People's Republic of China.
            (2) Updates of lists.--The President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an updated list under 
        paragraph (1)--
                    (A) as new information becomes available;
                    (B) not later than one year after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act; and
                    (C) annually thereafter for five years.
            (3) Form.--The list required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
        annex.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
        of the powers granted to the President by the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except 
        that the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and 
        prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property 
        of the person if such property and interests in property are in 
        the United States, come within the United States, or are or 
        come within the possession or control of a United States 
        person.
            (2) Inadmissibility of certain individuals.--
                    (A) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or 
                parole.--A foreign person included in the most recent 
                list submitted pursuant to subsection (b) is--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
                        documentation to enter the United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--A foreign person 
                described in subparagraph (A) is also subject to the 
                following:
                            (i) Revocation of any visa or other entry 
                        documentation regardless of when the visa or 
                        other entry documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) A revocation under clause (i) shall 
                        take effect immediately and automatically 
                        cancel any other valid visa or entry 
                        documentation that is in the foreign person's 
                        possession.
            (3) Exception.--Sanctions under paragraph (2) shall not 
        apply to an alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the 
        United States is necessary to permit the United States to 
        comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 
        United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and 
        entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United 
        Nations and the United States, or other applicable 
        international obligations of the United States.
    (d) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and 
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person who violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of regulations 
promulgated to carry out subsection (a) to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person who commits an unlawful act described in 
section 206(a) of that Act.
    (e) Exception To Comply With National Security.--The following 
activities shall be exempt from sanctions under this section:
            (1) Activities subject to the reporting requirements under 
        title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et 
        seq.).
            (2) Any authorized intelligence or law enforcement 
        activities of the United States.

SEC. 6. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the National 
Institutes of Health, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on the organ transplant policies and practices of 
the People's Republic of China.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under subsection 
(a) shall include--
            (1) a summary of de jure and de facto policies toward organ 
        transplantation in the PRC, including with respect to prisoners 
        of conscience (including Falun Gong) and other prisoners;
            (2)(A) the number of organ transplants that are known to 
        occur or are estimated to occur on an annual basis in the PRC;
            (B) the number of known or estimated voluntary organ donors 
        in the PRC;
            (C) an assessment of the sources of organs for transplant 
        in the PRC; and
            (D) an assessment of the time, in days, that it takes to 
        procure an organ for transplant within the Chinese medical 
        system and an assessment of whether such timetable is possible 
        based on the number of known or estimated organ donors in the 
        PRC;
            (3) a list of all United States grants over the past ten 
        years that have supported research on organ transplantation in 
        the PRC or in collaboration between a Chinese and a United 
        States entity; and
            (4) a determination as to whether the persecution of Falun 
        Gong practitioners within the People's Republic of China 
        constitutes an ``atrocity'' (as such term is defined in section 
        6 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 
        2018 (Public Law 115-441; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note)).
    (c) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

SEC. 7. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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