*EPF405 07/25/2002
Text: House Measure Calls on China to Stop Persecuting Falun Gong
(H. Con. Res. 188 passes House in 420-0 vote July 24) (974)
The House of Representatives passed a resolution July 24 calling on the Beijing regime to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
By a 420-0 vote, the House passed House Concurrent Resolution 188 (H. Con. Res. 188). The resolution, which was introduced last year by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican of Florida), had 100 co-sponsors.
The resolution also calls on the Chinese government's representatives in the United States to stop harassing "citizens and residents of the United States who practice Falun Gong." China's representatives should also "cease their attempts to put pressure on officials of State and local governments in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong and its practitioners," the resolution continues.
Ros-Lehtinen, who is chairwoman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, brought the resolution to the floor of the House July 22. The Florida Republican, who fled communist Cuba as a child, is a staunch defender of human rights and a sharp critic of human rights abuses by communist regimes.
Following is the text of the resolution:
(begin text)
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief and practice with millions of adherents in the People's Republic of China and elsewhere; (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)
HCON 188 EH
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 188
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief and practice with millions of adherents in the People's Republic of China and elsewhere;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has forbidden Falun Gong practitioners to practice their beliefs, and has systematically attempted to eradicate the practice and those who follow it;
Whereas this policy violates the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas Jiang Zemin's regime has created notorious government '610' offices throughout the People's Republic of China with the special task of overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong members through organized brainwashing, torture, and murder;
Whereas propaganda from state-controlled media in the People's Republic of China has inundated the public in an attempt to breed hatred and discrimination;
Whereas the number of known deaths from torture has reached 422 so far, tens of thousands have been tortured while confined in labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to attend brainwashing classes;
Whereas official measures have been taken to conceal all atrocities, such as the immediate cremation of victims, the blocking of autopsies, and the false labeling of deaths as from suicide or natural causes;
Whereas women in particular have been the target of numerous forms of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, and forced abortion;
Whereas the campaign of persecution has been generated by the Government of the People's Republic of China, is carried out by government officials and police at all levels, and has permeated every segment of society and every level of government in the People's Republic of China; and
Whereas several United States citizens and permanent resident aliens have been subjected to arbitrary detention, imprisoned, and tortured in the People's Republic of China: 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 cease its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and its representatives in the United States should cease their harassment of citizens and residents of the United States who practice Falun Gong and cease their attempts to put pressure on officials of State and local governments in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong and its practitioners;
(2) the United States Government should use every appropriate public and private forum to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China--
(A) to release from detention all Falun Gong practitioners and put an end to the practices of torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment against them and other prisoners of conscience; and
(B) to abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by allowing Falun Gong practitioners to pursue their personal beliefs; and
(3) the United States Government should investigate allegations of illegal activities in the United States of the Government of the People's Republic of China and its representatives and agents, including allegations of unlawful harassment of United States citizens and residents who practice Falun Gong and of officials of State and local governments in the United States who support Falun Gong, and should take appropriate action, including but not limited to enforcement of the immigration laws, against any such representatives or agents who engage in such illegal activities.
Passed the House of Representatives July 24, 2002.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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