Text: Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee Calls for Release of Gao Zhan
(Jackson-Lee sponsoring bill to make Gao Zhan U.S. citizen)

Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (Democrat of Texas) called on Beijing to release Gao Zhan in a July 24 speech in the House of Representatives.

Jackson-Lee, who has sponsored legislation to make Gao Zhan a U.S. citizen, said Secretary of State Colin Powell "must demand her release."

"Unite this mother with her child; unite this wife with her husband," Jackson-Lee said. "Unite this legal resident of the United States with her community."

Following is the text of Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee's July 24 speech from the Congressional Record:

(begin text)

DEMAND THE RELEASE OF GAO ZHAN FROM CHINA

House of Representatives
July 24, 2001

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, after a 1-day trial, China convicts a U.S.-based scholar of spying. Let me tell my colleagues who that is. Gao Zhan lives in this area. She is a mother, she is a wife, she is a researcher at the American University. She went to China to simply visit her relatives. She has a 5-year-old son that is a citizen. She has a husband that is a citizen of the United States. They would not allow the United States to sit in her trial and observe.

Gao Zhan needs to be released now. China needs to come into the world arena of friendship and understanding of human rights.

Secretary Colin Powell must demand her release, and we must pass a private bill in this Congress to make sure that Gao Zhan is a citizen of the United States. I have filed such a bill. There is a bill filed in the United States Senate. This bill must be brought forward, and we must demand that China understands that academics is not synonymous to spying. It is unfair. It is a tragedy. Unite this mother with her child; unite this wife with her husband. Unite this legal resident of the United States with her community. Demand Gao Zhan's release now.

(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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