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. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my friend Chris Smith's resolution to encourage our President while in China to push for the release of political prisoners of the Chinese Communist Party.
First is Dr. Gulshan Abbas. Dr. Gulshan is a minority Muslim in the Xinjiang region of China, a Uyghur who has been imprisoned for 8 years for the crime of being a practicing Muslim and as retribution for her sister's human rights advocacy. Even before I started the Congressional Uyghur Caucus in 2021, I have been fighting alongside Gulshan's U.S. citizen sister, Rushan Abbas, and U.S. citizen daughter, Ziba, and other family members to free this innocent woman.
Second, Pastor Jin Mingri, a man of tremendous faith, who was imprisoned for the crime of leading a powerful Christian movement in Beijing. He and other Christian leaders in China are the victims of the Chinese Communist Party's war on faith.
In anticipation of the summit, we cosponsored a bipartisan and bicameral letter with over 30 Members of the House and Senate calling for the release of Pastor Jin and other leaders of his church. Pastor Jin's U.S. citizen daughter, Grace, has been an inspiration, as have been the messages coming from Pastor Jin.
Jimmy Lai is a remarkable man imprisoned for the crime of journalism. I met Jimmy Lai here in our Nation's Capital in 2019 as he fought against the corruption and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party. As he fought with peaceful protest in favor of democracy in the face of brutal repression in Hong Kong, he wanted me to encourage student protesters in Hong Kong to remain peaceful and practice nonviolence. Instead of me advocating for the students to remain peaceful in their protest, I enlisted the help of one of America's great civil rights icons, John Lewis.
Congressman Lewis joined me in a video message that was viewed by millions of people throughout the world. John Lewis reminded us all to practice ``peace, love, and nonviolence to change things.'' He told us to respect the dignity and worth of every human being.
Now Jimmy Lai, 78 years old and in failing health, has been wrongfully imprisoned since 2020 and is sentenced to 20 years more. His daughter, Claire, and son, Sebastien, have done heroic work to have their ailing father released.
Now we need the Chinese Communist Party to heed the message of John Lewis and so many others to respect the dignity and worth of every human being and release Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Pastor Jin Mingri, Jimmy Lai, and every other person who has been wrongfully imprisoned and to change the dynamic between our two countries. This resolution encourages our President to make this release a priority on this trip.
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Mr. SUOZZI. We urge the Chinese Communist Party to stop defending the indefensible and enhance China's standing in the world by working with President Trump to finally get this done.
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