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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, since being elected to the U.S. Senate about 3 years ago, I have spoken often about the dangers presented by communist China. I have not been alone in this. Colleagues on both sides of the aisle--Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in this body--have been vocal about the threats we face from General Secretary Xi and his communist regime.
While we may not always agree on the solutions to the problems caused by communist China, I feel we are united in a truth: the good people of China are being brutally oppressed, censored, intimidated, and manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party--a regime that wants nothing more than to dominate the world and extinguish the democratic values and true freedoms we so proudly stand for.
Communist China's actions have repeatedly made this fact clear to all freedom-loving people across the world, and its latest attack on liberty and freedom of Peng Shuai demand our attention.
Ms. Shuai is one of China's most recognizable athletes. She is a three-time Olympian and was ranked the No. 1 doubles player in 2014 by the Women's Tennis Association. She has won championships at Wimbledon and the French Open and has represented her country at the highest levels of tennis competition.
So when she shared her story of sexual abuse by a former Vice Premier of the Chinese Communist Party last month on social media, it rightfully caught the attention of the world.
And communist China's reaction to these disturbing allegations have both shocked us all and completely verified all of our fears.
Instead of taking Ms. Shuai's claims seriously and investigating these allegations, the communist Chinese Government followed its authoritarian playbook--silence, deflect, and cover up.
General Secretary Xi and his Communist thugs are so thin-skinned, weak, and intolerant of any questioning of their conduct that the government immediately silenced and disappeared Ms. Shuai.
For more than 2 weeks, a global outcry arose, led by the Women's Tennis Association, asking ``Where is Peng?''
Then, communist China's state media released what it said was an email from Ms. Shuai to the Women's Tennis Association reversing her allegations. It read like a hostage note and only raised more concerns as to her whereabouts and safety.
Then, the communist Chinese Government shared a couple of videos of Ms. Shuai at various structured public events and staged two video calls with the International Olympic Committee. Shockingly, the International Olympic Committee didn't ask about her disappearance. They didn't ask about her allegations of abuse. But are any of us surprised?
I have been pressing the International Olympic Committee to speak up against communist China's genocide, attacks on democracy, and other abuses for 2 years. They have been completely silent.
The IOC's failure to ask these questions reveals it is more interested in appeasing the Chinese Communist Party and maintaining its good relationship with a genocidal communist regime than the safety of athletes.
I am not the only one who believes this. Last week, world renowned sports broadcaster Bob Costas appeared on CNN and told the truth that I have been sounding the alarm on. The IOC is in bed with communist China. It is disgusting, but that is the truth.
Fortunately, the Women's Tennis Association took real action to stand up for Ms. Shuai. Last week, the WTA announced it would be suspending all of its events in China until it was clear that Ms. Shuai was safe and in good health. The WTA is also calling for a full-fledged and completely transparent investigation into Ms. Shuai's allegations.
We should applaud the WTA for doing the right thing and showing the world how sport can stand up to an evil authoritarian communist regime. This is what courage looks like, and I believe it ought to be celebrated in this body. The IOC, on the other hand, is bending over backward to keep communist China happy.
We have American athletes and coaches traveling to Beijing in just weeks. It is terrifying. If communist China is willing to do this to its own citizens, how do we know Americans will be safe during the Olympics?
We must demand that Ms. Shuai immediately be freed from censorship, coercion, and intimidation, and that there be a full investigation into her serious allegations of sexual assault against former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
That is why I have introduced a resolution calling exactly for that.
I am thankful that Senators Lummis, Rubio, Braun, Hawley, and Cruz have joined me. The United States is the leading voice of freedom and democracy around the world. We cannot tolerate this kind of behavior, and I urge my colleagues to stand together today for human rights and help pass this good resolution.
Res. 474, which is at the desk. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Peng Shuai.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President.
Here is my concern about Nick Burns: Until the day he was nominated by President Biden, he had had no problems with communist China. He has never stood up to communist China; he has taken money from communist China; he has always looked the other way.
So my concern is that we ought to have a vote on him because everybody ought to have the opportunity to talk to him and get his position. I have talked to him, and he has never ever said a word about the Uighurs, about the Tibetans, about what happened in Hong Kong, about stealing American technology. He has never done any of those things. So I don't know how it is going to help us.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, this is pretty disappointing, all right?
My Democratic colleague said that he agreed with the resolution. I think it is time that we stand up for the Chinese citizens who are being oppressed by Secretary Xi.
What this resolution does is say that, you know, we have got to stand up to all the oppression in China, that we have got to stand up for Peng Shuai. The resolution says, you know, as for the athletes who are going over there, we have your backs. Yet, if you look at what is happening now, the Democrats are saying: We are not going to do those things.
I don't think that is right. I don't believe our platform in the Senate should be that we don't stand for alleged victims of sexual assault. I think, by not having this resolution approved today and having the Democrats block it, that that is exactly what we are saying.
So it is pretty disappointing. This was a basic resolution that said that we were going to stand up for Peng Shuai. I am very appreciative of what the WTA has done. I am very disappointed with what the NBA has done. I am disappointed with what the IOC has done.
I am also disappointed that the Senate, today, could not come to a resolution and simply stand up for somebody who has accused the Vice Premier of China of sexual assault. None of us would like that to happen to anybody in our families, and we don't want it to happen to anybody in this country. We ought to stand up for people in China just like we would want them to stand up for people in this country.
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