Senate Passes Bipartisan Resolution to Mark 25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced Senate passage of S. Res. 451, a Senate resolution to mark 25 years since the government of China used violent suppression to injure and kill peaceful demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

S. Res. 451 expresses sympathy to the families of those killed, tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their participation in the peaceful democratic movement. The resolution also condemns China's history of human rights violations--including the harassment, detainment and imprisonment of Chinese citizens exercising their freedom of expression, association and religion.

"Our bipartisan resolution ensures that the world does not forget about the victims of this horrible tragedy and the hardships faced by their families," said Barrasso. "The United States has a long record of championing liberty and freedom around the world--and this resolution sends a strong message to China that their ongoing human rights abuses are unacceptable. We will continue to call on China to stop the harassment, detention and imprisonment of Chinese citizens exercising their freedom of expression, association and religion."

"Chinese authorities continue to refuse to address the events that took place 25 years ago in Tiananmen Square. Instead of acknowledging this blood-soaked stain in its history, the Chinese government has been trying to scrub any remembrance of that brutal repression of peaceful protesters from Chinese society," said Rubio. "It's important that we bear witness to what happened in Tiananmen Square and continue making it clear to the Chinese government that a great power does not repress its people's universal desires to be free."

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