WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Jerry Moran (R-K.S.) introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution expressing solidarity with Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual discipline based upon universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The resolution condemns the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party of China’s oppression of Falun Gong practitioners, including the practice of non-consenting organ harvesting.
“For over 20 years, the Chinese government’s mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners has been morally and fundamentally wrong. The continued jailing, torturing, and killing of Falun Gong practitioners, along with the illegal harvesting of Falun Gong prisoners’ organs, highlights the necessity of U.S. and international pressure on the People’s Republic of China to end these human rights abuses,” said Senator Menendez. “The Falun Gong practitioners, along with all Chinese people, deserve the freedom to worship in whatever manner they choose. I will continue to spearhead this important issue and work with my colleagues to ensure that the U.S. government is vocal about the need for these human rights abuses to end in China.”
“Supporting religious freedom is fundamental to who we are as a nation,” said Sen. Moran. “Since introducing this resolution last Congress, matters relating to Falun Gong’s persecution in China have only become more urgent and deserve scrutiny from the United States and the world. Through this resolution, the Senate recognizes and highlights the findings of the United Nations, the State Department and the Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting and calls on the People’s Republic of China to cease its oppression and torture of Falun Gong members.”
Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) is a Chinese spiritual discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992 that consists of spiritual and moral teachings, meditation, and exercise. Since 1999, hundreds of Falun Gong adherents have allegedly died in custody from torture, abuse, and neglect. In 2018 the United Nations Human Rights Council recommended that China end its persecution of religious minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners.
Joining Menendez and Moran in introducing the Resolution were Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Angus King (I-Maine), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
The text of the resolution can be found here.
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