Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives That the President Should Prioritize Securing the Release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and His Wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai Detained By the Peoples Republic of China During Future Engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Floor Speech
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1259, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Ezra Jin; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; as well as Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lai, all of whom, Madam Speaker, have been detained by the People's Republic of China. We encourage him to take this approach during his upcoming talks with President Xi Jinping.
I also thank my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his longstanding leadership on this important issue.
President Trump's trip, Madam Speaker, is an opportunity for him to confront Beijing not only on economic issues but also on its deeply troubling human rights record, including its suppression of free speech and its ongoing persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.
Whether it is prodemocracy advocates in Hong Kong, Uyghurs, or members of the Christian Zion Church, Beijing has imprisoned far too many individuals simply for practicing their faith or exercising their fundamental right of free speech.
Across China, underground churches are raided; pastors, like Pastor Jin, are surveilled; congregations are harassed; and believers are detained simply for worshipping outside state control.
Pastor Jin's wife, despite having no direct role in the church, has also been arrested without cause and denied access to all necessary medical care.
Uyghurs, like Dr. Abbas, face mass internment, forced labor, and egregious human rights abuses that our own government has declared a genocide.
Journalists, like Jimmy Lai, who have shown fearless activism and extraordinary courage in defense of a free press, are imprisoned for speaking the truth, including reporting on Beijing's democracy crackdown in Hong Kong.
Mr. Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison. This is the most excessive sentence that China has ever given for this so-called offense. Yet, unlike prior U.S. administrations that recognize the clear link between human rights and our own security and prosperity, the Trump administration has not meaningfully engaged on China's troubling human rights abuses and too often has failed to forcefully raise these issues in high-level bilateral engagements with Beijing. That must change.
I call on President Trump to reverse this trend and to make securing the release of all the individuals named a central objective in his upcoming meeting with President Xi.
This resolution reflects a strong bipartisan consensus in Congress on the importance of securing the release of these brave individuals.
President Xi is hoping the war in Iran and our trade objectives with Beijing will distract our focus away from China's human rights abuses, but we need to be clear that the U.S. cannot take the pressure off of Beijing on these critical issues. China cannot be allowed to continue its repression of religious communities, ethnic minorities, Hong Kongers, or the press with impunity.
Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker Emerita.
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi), who is the co-chair of the Uyghur Caucus.
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.
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Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.
Madam Speaker, there is broad, bipartisan consensus as we heard today in this body that the U.S. must, once again, apply pressure and use leverage to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, journalists, and Hong Kongers, and force it to release those whom they have been wrongfully imprisoned.
This week is an opportunity for President Trump to press President Xi on these issues during their summit.
This resolution calls on President Trump to make central in his negotiations the release of Pastor Jin; Pastor Gao Quanfu, and his wife, Pang Yu; Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lei.
Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 1259, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I thank my friends on the other side of the aisle. I thank Mr. Olszewksi for his kind words on behalf of this important resolution and Speaker Pelosi and Tom Suozzi. We worked together very, very closely on the Uyghurs, and I thank him for his strong statement, and of course, Young Kim, as eloquent as she always is. There is a great deal of support for Jimmy Lai.
As we all know, he is 78. He got a 20-year prison sentence on top of the 5 he has already served. It is a death sentence. He is not well. He has a number of maladies that are affecting his health. We know, and the Speaker will remember, when Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, when he was gravely sick, the Chinese Communist Party would not even let him get the medical attention that he required. We don't want a deja vu on that ever.
He needs to be released to his family so he can get the very necessary healthcare and to, in these final years, enjoy his amazing family and to be celebrated, frankly, for the great man that he is.
Senator Rick Scott and I did a letter last week which kind of summed it all up. One hundred of our colleagues signed on to it.
In part it said:
The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai's freedom is urgent and undeniable. He is a devout Catholic and successful entrepreneur who has already spent 5 years in detention, much of it in solitary confinement. His health has declined in custody, and prolonged isolation and inadequate prison conditions only increase the risk of permanent harm.
Mr. President, we greatly appreciated that you have discussed the case of Jimmy Lai with Xi Jinping before. We know you have pledged to do it again.
We are hoping that the appeal will be heard by Xi Jinping himself: Search deep in your heart.
Why continue to repress this absolutely amazing man who should be getting the Nobel Peace Prize, not a prison sentence?
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to finally get this done, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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