U.S. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey: The right to practice the religion or spiritual movement of one's choice is ingrained in the very fabric of the United States Constitution
October 4, 2004 Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 304, a resolution that
condemns the harassment of Falun Gong practitioners in China and here in the
United States. I first want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms.
Ros-Lehtinen), with whom I coauthored and introduced this important
resolution in October of last year. I also want to thank the House leadership
for allowing this important legislation to come to the House floor, and the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) for yielding me this time.
Finally, I want to thank the loyal and dedicated Falun Gong practitioners
who have diligently stopped by my offices over the last 2 years. It has been my
pleasure to work with them on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, in April of 1999, 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners staged a
peaceful demonstration in front of the Communist Party headquarters near
Tiananmen Square. They protested China's oppressive regime. Of course,
we are all familiar with the events that took place in Tiananmen Square in
1989, when thousands of individuals protesting the Chinese regime were brutally
beaten and many killed, but China's abuses of Falun Gong practitioners both in
China and here in the United States have not received the same attention.
China's rulers have condemned Falun Gong since the 1999 protest, calling
this peaceful spiritual movement an evil cult, and embarking on an official
campaign to eradicate the movement. China has imprisoned, tortured, and even
murdered hundreds of people simply because they peacefully practice Falun Gong.
Included among those who have been jailed and tortured are American citizens of
Chinese descent.
Charles Lee, a California native, is one such victim. In the year 2003, he
traveled to China to visit his extended family. Immediately upon stepping off
the airplane, Charles Lee was arrested by Chinese officials. Despite the United
States State Department appeals for his release, he has been jailed and tortured
in a Chinese prison since his abduction.
Other American Falun Gong practitioners have been assaulted, robbed, and
harassed right here in America. Miss Gail Rachlin, the Falun Gong spokeswoman in
the United States, has had her New York apartment broken into not once, not
twice, but five times over in the last 5 years; and it appears the break-ins
have been by Chinese agents.
China's diplomats to the United States too have been actively involved in
harassing and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners here in the United States.
When San Francisco City Supervisor Chris Daly heard some of his constituents had
been harassed by Chinese officials, he authored a resolution for the San
Francisco Board condemning the persecution of Falun Gong members by the Chinese
Government. In response, the Chinese Consul General in San Francisco sent Mr.
Daly a harshly worded letter, claiming that Falun Gong undermines the normal
social order in China and should be condemned.
The same experience has been repeated time and time again in dozens of
cities across the country. A local official introduces a resolution in support
of Falun Gong, and in response the Chinese consulate in the U.S. condemns that
resolution as well as the local official who sponsored it.
Mr. Speaker, that is why H. Con. Res. 304 expresses the sense of Congress
that the Government of the People's Republic of China immediately stop
interfering in the exercise of religious and political freedoms within the
United States, including the right to practice Falun Gong. This resolution also
states that China immediately cease its harassment, detention, and torture of
any individual exercising his or her legitimate rights to freedom of religion,
freedom of expression, and freedom of association, as affirmed by the
Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
The right to practice the religion or spiritual movement of one's choice
is ingrained in the very fabric of the United States Constitution. That is why
it is counter to what we stand for in our country that Chinese officials have
persecuted Falun Gong practitioners and harassed local American officials right
here in our country.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this important resolution. Send a
strong message to China that we demand the proper treatment of both Americans
and Chinese individuals who practice the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
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