Demanding That the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China Immediately Release Mark Swidan

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H. Res. 90) demanding that the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China immediately release Mark Swidan, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H. Res. 90

Whereas Mark Swidan is being unjustly and arbitrarily detained by the Government of the People's Republic of China, according to the United States Government and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention;

Whereas, Mark Swidan is a United States citizen from Luling, Texas, and is a resident of Houston, Texas;

Whereas, on November 13, 2012, Mark Swidan was abducted by officers of the Public Security Bureau while on a business trip to the People's Republic of China, and on December 21, 2012, Swidan was formally arrested following an indictment issued by the Public Prosecutions Office of the People's Procuratorate of Jiangmen City alleging that Swidan was part of a criminal conspiracy with 11 other individuals to manufacture and traffic drugs;

Whereas, on April 30, 2019, a PRC court sentenced Swidan to death, which he has appealed;

Whereas PRC security officials repeatedly attempted to coerce Swidan into signing a confession, but Swidan refused to sign a confession pleaded not guilty;

Whereas, according to evidence evaluated by the UNHRC Working Group on Arbitrary Detention--

(1) no drugs were found on Swidan or in his hotel room;

(2) the prosecution did not produce any forensic evidence of the alleged offenses;

(3) records in Swidan's passport indicate he was not in the People's Republic of China during the time of the offenses; and

(4) the 11 other individuals indicted in relation to the alleged conspiracy could not identify Swidan;

Whereas PRC officials have maliciously and systematically denied Swidan's mother Katherine Swidan, a resident of Texas, and other members of his family the ability to contact him;

Whereas the PRC have denied and continue to deny United States diplomats full consular access to Swidan, in violation of international norms;

Whereas Swidan's detention has been and continues to be inhumane, and includes exposure to extreme weather conditions, sleep deprivation, and physical and psychological abuse;

Whereas Swidan's health has precipitously deteriorated and PRC security officials continue to deny independent or competent medical care and evaluation to Swidan;

Whereas humanitarian organizations of the United States, including the Dui Hua Foundation, which helped put this case before the Working Group, and the Global Liberty Alliance, which has asked the Sister Cities programs to sever relationships with Jiangmen until Swidan is released, have sought to highlight the injustice and conditions of Swidan's detention;

Whereas the UNHRC Working Group on Arbitrary Detention--

(1) found that Swidan is being held in violation of customary international law;

(2) emphasized the nonconformity by the PRC with international norms, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and

(3) stressed that ``the appropriate remedy would be to release Swidan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law'': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) demands that the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party immediately release Mark Swidan;

(2) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party for refusing to provide Swidan with--

(A) regular communication with his family;

(B) access to United States diplomats; and

(C) independent and competent medical care and evaluation; and

(3) calls on the United States Government to deepen and prioritize efforts to secure the release of Swidan, including by--

(A) urging PRC counterparts at every level of engagement to release Swidan; and

(B) using the voice and vote of United States diplomats in international forums to highlight Swidan's case.

Mr. Speaker, Mark Swidan is an American, a Texan, and has been a hostage of the Chinese Communist Party for more than a decade. We stand together to demand his release and an end to his torture by CCP officials.

In 2012, Mark was wrongfully detained in China for a crime he clearly did not commit. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that it was impossible for him to have committed any of the crimes he is charged with. In fact, Mr. Speaker, he was not even in China at the time the CCP says that these false crimes were committed.

Since his abduction in 2012, Mark has been grossly abused in Chinese custody. He has been held for more than a decade in temporary detention facilities intended for brief custody. He remains caged in a small, crowded cell that is freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer. The toilet is a hole in the ground; the lights are never turned off; and he has no regular access to sunlight, a bed, or hot water.

Chinese officials have denied him proper medical care. Guards have broken his hands several times, and he has suffered a dislocated knee. Mark has lost almost 100 pounds. He suffers from tooth and gum disease, and his mouth bleeds every day. Mark has only been allowed to speak with his family a handful of times. His ordeal has taken a terrible toll on his physical and mental health.

Just last week, the People's Republic of China denied Mark's appeal and upheld the death penalty with a 2-year suspended death sentence. Threatening an American citizen with death for a crime that he could not have possibly committed is a brazen human rights violation and a disgusting example of CCP's hostage diplomacy.

Protecting Americans abroad is a priority mission of the State Department, yet State has failed to secure Mark's release or hold the CCP accountable for its gross violation of his basic human rights. Instead, the Biden administration continues to prioritize engagement with the PRC over all else, even the safety of American citizens.

This bipartisan resolution before us today unanimously passed the Foreign Affairs Committee in February. It condemns the CCP for their violation of international law and demands the immediate release of Mr. Swidan. Furthermore, it urges the Biden administration to hold the CCP accountable for its blatant violation of human rights and international law.

I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cloud), my good friend, for introducing this resolution which deserves our unanimous support.

Mr. Speaker, if we are seen as a weak nation, we will be treated as such. Appeasement only invites aggression. The U.S. must not tolerate these brazen acts of hostage diplomacy. I wish that Mark Swidan could somehow hear us in this Chamber today to know that he is not forgotten. However, I know that his tireless advocate, his mother, Katherine, is listening; and I know that his CCP captors and abusers are listening, too.

Our unified bipartisan message to them is simple: Free Mark Swidan now.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 90, calling for the immediate release of U.S. Citizen Mark Swidan, whose wrongful and arbitrary detention by the Chinese Communist authorities, without ever having had a chance at a fair trial, is unconscionable.

Just two weeks ago, the PRC Jiangmen Intermediate Court denied Mr. Swidan's appeal. He remains on death row, with a two-year suspended death sentence.

Moreover, I and my colleagues are very concerned at the condition in which Mr. Swidan is being held. He is being denied needed medical care and is cut off from receiving mail from loved ones in a timely manner.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has expressed ``grave concern'' over the severity of Mr. Swidan's sentence, and has catalogued the step-by-step denial of justice that has accompanied Mr. Swidan's arbitrary detention: ``it is evident that Mr. Swidan has been unable to defend himself properly, as he has been subjected to a detention of extraordinary length, to ill-treatment and to coercion with the purpose of extracting a confession and as he has received ineffective legal assistance.''

The Working Group has therefore called for the only just resolution of this case: ``release Mr. Swidan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.''

We also must redouble our efforts to release of US citizens Kai Li and David Lin, who are wrongful detainees, as well as Chinese nationals who are imprisoned because of their connection to the United States, such as Ekpar Asat, who was jailed because he participated in the State Department's International Visitor's Leadership Program, and Gulshan Abbas, who was interned because of her sister Rushan's intrepid reporting at Radio Free Asia, and her testimony before Congress and elsewhere.

At the end of the day these individuals are hostages held by a hostile regime. Their freedom must be prioritized and raised in all our State Department's interactions with PRC officials.

Please join me in supporting this resolution, and in calling for Mark Swidan's immediate release.

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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