[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 304 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 304
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government
of the People's Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States
and in China.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 16, 2003
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself and Ms. Woolsey) submitted 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 Congress regarding oppression by the Government
of the People's Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States
and in China.
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual movement that originated in the
People's Republic of China but has grown in popularity worldwide 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;
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 pro-
democracy 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 silence the Falun Gong
movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States;
Whereas on June 12, 2003, 38 Members of Congress filed an Amended Brief of
Amicus Curiae in support of the Falun Gong at the United States District
Court, Northeastern District of Illinois, Eastern Division;
Whereas Chinese consular officials have pressured local elected officials in the
United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong spiritual
group;
Whereas Dr. Charles Lee, a United States citizen, has reportedly been mentally
and physically tortured since being detained by Chinese authorities in
early 2003;
Whereas the apartment of Ms. Gail Rachlin, the Falun Gong spokeswoman in the
United States, has been broken into 5 times by agents of the Chinese
regime since the regime banned Falun Gong in 1999 in China;
Whereas over the past 5 years China's diplomatic corps has been actively
involved in harassing and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in the
United States;
Whereas on June 23, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners were attacked outside a
Chinese restaurant in New York City by local United States-based
individuals with reported ties to the Chinese Government;
Whereas 5 Falun Gong practitioners were assaulted outside of the Chinese
Consulate in Chicago on September 7, 2001, while exercising their
constitutionally protected rights to free speech, leading to battery
convictions in Cook County Criminal Court of Jiming Zheng on November
13, 2002, and Yujun Weng on December 5, 2002, both assailants being
members of a Chinese-American organization in Chicago, the Mid-USA
Fujian Township Association, which maintains close ties with the Chinese
Consulate;
Whereas individuals that physically harassed Falun Gong practitioners in San
Francisco 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 receiving complaints
that Chinese officials were intimidating his constituents, authored a
resolution condemning human rights violations and persecution of Falun
Gong members by the Chinese Government;
Whereas Mr. Daly and the other members of the San Francisco 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 rejected,
which it subsequently was;
Whereas in November 2000, the former Mayor of Saratoga, California, Stan
Bogosian, issued a proclamation honoring the contributions of Falun Gong
practitioners to the Saratoga community, which prompted the Chinese
Consulate in San Francisco to write to Mr. Bogosian urging him to
retract his support for local Falun Gong activities;
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;
Whereas journalists have cited fear of hurting trade relationships as the
motivation for some local United States officials to recant their
support for Falun Gong after receiving pressure from Chinese consular
officials; and
Whereas the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of religion,
the right to assemble, and the right 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 beliefs: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Government of the People's Republic of China
should--
(A) immediately stop interfering in the exercise 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, detention,
physical abuse, and imprisonment of individuals who are
exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of
religion, including the practices of Falun Gong,
freedom of expression, 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,
expression, and association by ceasing to restrict
those freedoms in the People's Republic of China;
(2) the President should, in accordance with section
401(a)(1)(B) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998
(22 U.S.C. 6401(a)(1)(B)), and with the intention of dissuading
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 protected 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 authorities who have been
personally responsible for acts of violence and
persecution in the People's Republic of China;
(3) the Attorney General should investigate reports that
Chinese consular officials in the United States have committed
illegal acts while attempting to intimidate or inappropriately
influence Falun Gong practitioners or local elected officials,
and, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determine an
appropriate legal response; 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 harassment by
agents of the People's Republic of China to Members of
Congress, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of
State.
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