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

Reference: 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

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.