Date: 1997-10-31
Speaker: LINDA SMITH (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Washington

Madam Speaker. yesterday I introduced a resolution expressing a sense of Congress that the Chinese Governments practice of executing prisoners and selling their organs for transplant be stopped and that we say this is immoral. Earlier this month. on "Prime Time Live." a television show airing on ABC. Americans got a see - for themselves what has become an all too common practice of prisoners routinely executed and their organs sold to people willing to pay $30.000 for a kidney in wealthier countries. What is even more troubling is that Chinese nationals living in the United States on student visas are marketing these organs to Americans and other foreigners who have the money to make the $5.000 deposit and they travel to China to a Red Liberation Army hospital where they receive the kidney using modern American medical facilities. but only they have been tissuetyped and the prisoner. of which they say there are plenty. is tissuetyped so there is a perfect match. The resolution that we entered yesterday condemns this practice. but it also calls on the administration to bar from entry any Chinese official who is directly involved in the practice of organ harvesting to the United States. Furthermore. we have called for individuals who are in the United States now engaged in marketing and facilitating these transplants to be prosecuted. I want to tell you some facts about this that we now know and that we have asked this administration to investigate and the Attorney General and FBI to come before Congress and present subpoenas and facts on. Here are some of the facts. Amnesty International. August 1997. there is a report that shows that China has executed at least. probably more. but at least 3.500 people. Because China does not have law that protects individual rights. a person can be arrested today for standing up against the Communist regime and in 48 hours after finding that they have a DNA match that matches someone that wants to purchase their kidneys. can be executed. A little more about the ABC report. The ABC report was a result of a 3month investigation. A year ago. the tapes of the mass executions were presented to the current administration and nothing was done. So this network went about looking at the evidence over a 3month period and actually went to videotape the actual sales. The videotape of prisoners on their way to execution was made in 1992 and never intended to be seen outside of official circles. What you see on the videotape is that the guns are lined up at the base of the neck of the prisoners so that they can preserve the organs. Human rights organizations estimate that since 1990. more than 10.000 kidneys alone from Chinese prisoners have been sold. potentially bringing in tens of millions of dollars to the Chinese military. For years. the U.S. Government has officially maintained that these practices do not happen. but all of our eyes were opened this last week. The tape shows that the prisoners were immediately lined up. that an officer would take and realign the guns before the executions. It also shows pictures of the hospitals and you go into the hospitals that are videoed and these hospitals are clearly shown to be PLA hospitals. They interviewed a Thai woman who was told that she was actually getting a prisoners kidney and that she would have an absolute matched blood and tissue type because there were so many prisoners available. The tape also shows American corporation W.R. Grace Co. appears to be involved in the kidney dialysis in China and is a part of this operation. In conclusion. more must be done on all fronts when it comes to Chinese human rights record. I am pleased that the Secretary of State Albright has announced that we will have a threeperson group of Americans from different denominations go and look into this and other violations. Madam Speaker. as the President of China is here. it is not the time to be silent. It is the time for all of Americans to stand up and speak out. I think America needs to watch next week as Congress stands and does stand up and opposes what is happening in China. Dr. Dai. the Chinese doctor on the American student visa quoted the price of a kidney at $30.000. with $5.000 required in advance. U.S. law makes it: "unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire. receive. or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce." More must be done on all fronts when it comes to Chinas human rights record and I am pleased by Secretary of State Albrights announcement that an ecumenical group of Americans will be permitted to travel to China to examine the human rights situation. This is a good first step but we must ensure that they are not given a whitewash. Two days ago. I introduced a resolution expressing a sense of the Congress that the Chinese Governments practice of executing prisoners and selling their organs for transplant patients is immoral and should stop. Two weeks ago. on "Prime Time Live." a television show airing on ABC. Americans saw for themselves what has become an all too common practice of prisoners routinely executed and their organs sold to people willing to pay $30.000 for a kidney. What is even more troubling is that Chinese nationals living in the United States on student visas are marketing these organs to Americans and other foreigners who are able to make a $5.000 deposit and then travel to China and be admitted to a Chinese Army hospital where they will receive their kidney after they have been tissue and blood typed. According to Amnesty Internationals August 1997 report. China has executed at least 3.500 prisoners this past year and many reports say this number is closer to 4.000. Human rights organizations estimate that since 1990. more than 10.000 kidneys from Chinese prisoners have been sold. potentially bringing in tens of millions of dollars to the Chinese military. My resolution. House Concurrent Resolution 180. condemns this practice and calls upon AI9846 the Clinton administration to bar from entry any Chinese official who is directly involved in the practice of organ harvesting. Furthermore. individuals in the United States who are engaged in marketing and facilitating these transplants should be prosecuted under U.S. law. Mr. Speaker. as President Jiang Zemin concludes his visit to the United States. lets use this opportunity to speak out on Chinas dismal human rights record. Nothing will change if Congress and the American people are silent. The House is commonly known as the peoples House and the American people want their voices heard. They are a people of compassion and good will and will not stand for organ harvesting or any other abuse of human rights.