U.S. House of Representatives Unanimously Passes
Resolution Urging Chinese Government to Cease Its Oppression of Falun Gong Practitioners
in the United States and in China
At
8pm Eastern Time on October 4, 2004, the House of the Representatives in the U.S.
unanimously passed H. Con. Resolution 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. The resolution expressed the sense that the
Government of the People's Republic of China should 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, cease using the diplomatic missions in the United States to spread
falsehoods about the nature of Falun Gong, and release from detention all prisoners
of conscience, including practitioners of Falun Gong.
The H. Con. Res. 304 was
initiated by Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and co-sponsored by 75
congresspeople. It was unanimously passed yesterday evening (October 4) by the
representatives.
The resolution expressed the sense that the president of the
United States should take actions such as 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; and
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.
The full text of the resolution is as below:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
HCON 304 EH
CON. RES. 304
RESOLUTION
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.
Passed the House of Representatives October 4, 2004.
Attest:
Clerk.
END
Posting
date: 6/Oct/2004
Original article date: 5/Oct/2004
Category: World
News
