Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his support of democracy and democratic freedom in Hong Kong.

I want to salute my colleague, Representative Smith of New Jersey, with whom I have worked for decades on this subject, whether it is for religious freedom or freedom of expression in China.

I thank Mr. McGovern for his important leadership as chair of the China Commission and as chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Right now, we are on the PROTECT Hong Kong Act, as amended, by Mr. McGovern, and I rise in support of that legislation and, indeed, the bills that are on the floor to support democratic freedom in Hong Kong.

Mr. Speaker, for 4 months, the young people of Hong Kong have sent a stirring message to the world that the dreams of freedom, justice, and democracy can never be extinguished by injustice and intimidation. The extraordinary outpouring of courage from the people of Hong Kong stands in stark contrast to a cowardly government that refuses to respect the rule of law or live up to the ``one country, two systems'' framework, which was guaranteed more than two decades ago.

In 1984, before the United Kingdom transferred Hong Kong to China, the Chinese Government promised a high degree of autonomy for the territory in the Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, providing for an independent executive, legislature, and judiciary; ensuring the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion; prohibiting the central government, the Chinese Government in Beijing, from interfering in the affairs that Hong Kong administers on its own according to the Basic Law; and pledging a path to universal suffrage.

In 1997--that is when we were here doing this--when the handover occurred, America was hopeful that the people of Hong Kong would achieve this high degree of autonomy that they were promised, and this was a promise that was participated in by the U.K. Government. Today, we must sadly conclude that China has broken that promise.

For years, the people of Hong Kong have faced a barrage of unjust and harsh restrictions on their freedoms, and those who have stood up for their rights have been met with a cruel crackdown.

In Congress, Democrats and Republicans, in the House and in the Senate, stand united with the people of Hong Kong. If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights anyplace in the world.

Since Tiananmen Square 30 years ago, many of us, in a bipartisan way, have been fighting this fight, and we have seen that commercial interests always win. It is always about the money.

I lost my innocence on human rights in America and China all those years ago when I saw that, while we talked a good talk, when it came right down to it, it was always about the money.

Again, to those who want to take the repressive government's side in this discussion, I say to you: What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul?

We do not want to lose the soul of our country for commercial interests, whatever those commercial interests may be.

It is interesting to hear people say we have to know both sides of the story. Do you want to hear both sides?

One side is a very repressive regime that is crushing democratic freedoms in Hong Kong at the same time that they have tried to destroy the culture, the language, and the religion, all at the same time as they incarcerate in reeducation camps more than 1 million--it could be 3 million--Uyghur Muslims in China, or they repress religious freedom there. The list goes on and on.

And the other side: young people speaking out for freedoms, democratic freedoms, in Hong Kong. They are so impressive.

Mr. Smith and I have worked, as Mr. McGovern has, with some three generations, starting after Tiananmen Square and tanks rolling over young people who spoke out for democratic freedoms in China; the next generation, a couple, 15 years later; and now this generation of young people, so impressive are they that even the more senior freedom fighters in Hong Kong are impressed by their courage and their stick-to-itiveness.

Today, the House is proud to pass the bicameral and bipartisan Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act to reaffirm America's commitment to democracy. And that doesn't mean a democracy like this. It means democratic freedoms, human rights, and the rule of law in the face of Beijing's crackdown.

And Beijing thinks that they can rule because of money. It always comes down to that. I thank Chairman McGovern and Congressman Smith for their work to ensure an honest accounting of the situation in Hong Kong, and to ensure accountability for those responsible for the crackdown.

We are grateful to Chairman McGovern for his leadership on this PROTECT Hong Kong Act which suspends sales of crowd control technology and other equipment to the Hong Kong Police Force, as Mr. Sherman pointed out earlier. I thank Mr. Sherman for his work on this and thank him for his resolution calling for the Hong Kong Government to address protestors' demands and condemning police brutality, in addition to China's efforts to falsely accuse U.S. diplomats of fueling unrest.

Last week, Martin Lee, the grandfather of Hong Kong democracy--we started working with him decades ago--said: ``We fear Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city.'' That means one without any of the freedoms that they were guaranteed. The future of Hong Kong, the future of autonomy, freedom, and justice for millions is at stake.

America must stand with Hong Kong. It is very interesting that in the first weeks of the demonstration, the first months of the demonstration, 2 million people, mostly young people, were in the streets. And people were saying: Oh, my heavens, 2 million people turning out. And you remember that 2 million is 25 percent of the population of Hong Kong which is 8 million people. It is 25 percent of the population that was in the streets. And the beat goes on.

Hopefully, they will hear from this Congress our support for their human rights, and that we will not sell our souls for money at the expense of our values.

I also want to thank the distinguished chairman of the committee, Mr. Eliot Engel, for his leadership on all of this over time. I urge an ``aye'' vote on all of the above to join in bipartisan, bicameral support for the people of Hong Kong.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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