On March 16, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives had near-unanimous support in House Resolution 605 calling for protection of human rights of the Falun Gong in Communist China.  [The only dissenting vote was from Representative Ron Paul (who also voted against the June 2, 2009 House Resolution 489 recognizing the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre). ]

The House Resolution 605 bill was titled: “Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spriritual movement and calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners.”

The five page House Resolution 605 bill concludes that:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives —
(1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs;

(2) calls upon the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6- 10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including those practitioners who are the relatives of United States citizens and permanent residents; and

(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government.

==============================

AFP reports on U.S. Congressional Resolution calling for an end to Communist China’s persecution of Falun Gong:

— “WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Tuesday urged China to end its ‘persecution’ of the Falungong and rejected Beijing’s charge that the banned spiritual movement is an ‘evil cult.'”

— “In a nearly unanimous vote, the House called on China to free thousands of practitioners who are said to be imprisoned and to abolish an office tasked with fighting the Falungong.”

— “The House expressed ‘sympathy to Falungong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs.'”

— “The resolution asked China to ‘immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison and torture Falungong practitioners.'”

— “The measure expresses the sense of lawmakers but is not binding on Washington policymakers. China has bristled at previous resolutions on its human rights record, calling it interference in its internal affairs.”

— “Falungong — a movement loosely based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophies that features spiritual exercises — enjoyed growing popularity among Chinese in the 1990s.”

— “China’s communist government banned the movement in 1999 and later branded it an ‘evil cult’ after thousands of practitioners silently converged in Beijing to air their grievances, showing their organizational might.”

— “‘Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falungong is a suicidal and militant ‘evil cult’ rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and exercise,’ the resolution said.”

— “Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who led the legislation, called China’s treatment of the Falungong ‘one of the most flagrant examples of systematic persecution against a particular group taking place in the world today.'”

— “‘The Beijing regime of today engages in the barbaric repression of some of its own people simply because they seek to practice a peaceful spiritual discipline,’ said the Florida congresswoman, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”

— “Ros-Lehtinen, a longtime critic of China, pointed to allegations that Beijing has harvested organs from Falungong prisoners.”

— “‘It seems incomprehensible that in the 21st century such barbaric acts could occur — a cruelty comparable to imperial Romans throwing Christian martyrs to be eaten by lions,’ she said on the House floor.”

— “‘The stark reality which this resolution addresses gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Butchers of Beijing,'”‘ she said.”

— “A former Canadian cabinet member in 2006 authored a report that found that China harvested organs from live prisoners, mostly jailed Falungong members.”

— “China denounced the report as inaccurate and biased, saying the information came from Falungong supporters overseas.”

— “A total of 412 lawmakers voted for the resolution. Only one voted against — Republican Representative Ron Paul of Texas.”

— “Paul, a maverick former presidential candidate, routinely opposes measures which he considers interference in another nations’ internal affairs.”

— “Another 17 lawmakers did not vote.”

================================

Resources:

Full Text of House Resolution 605 Bill (English)
— Official Adobe Acrobat PDF file
— HTML version (English)
— HTML version (Chinese Simplified — Google Translation)
— HTML version (Chinese Traditional – Google Translation)

Voting Record on House Resolution 605 Bill

R.E.A.L. Postings on Falun Gong

Human Rights Day – Falun Gong Address and Video

================================

Shen Yun at January 2010 Washington DC Press Conference after Hong Kong Performance Canceled

Washington DC's Leon Chao to Americans: "I ask Americans to take a stand and not take our freedoms for granted"

================================

每 小時雜誌。 605 605
In the House of Representatives, US,在眾議院，美國，
March 16, 2010. 2010年3月16日。

Whereas Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992, which consists of spiritual, religious, and moral teachings for daily life,鑑於法輪功是一個傳統的中國精神紀律李洪志創立於1992年，它包括精神，宗教，道德 說教的生活，
meditation, and exercise, based upon the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance;冥想，運動，依據的原 則，堅持真理，同情和容忍;

Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “tens of millions of Chinese citizens practiced Falun Gong in the 1990s and adherents to the spiritual movement inside of China are estimated to still number in the hundreds of thousands despite the government’s ongoing crackdown,” and other estimates published in Western press place the number of Falun Gong adherents currently in China at the tens of millions;而根據2008 年年度報告國會執行委員會的中國，“幾千萬的中國公民修煉法輪功，在90年代和信徒的精神運動在中國境內，估計數目仍然在數十萬人，儘管政府正在進行的打 擊，“和其他估計西方媒體發表的地方有多少法輪功信徒在中國，目前在幾千萬;

Whereas in 1996, Falun Gong books were banned in China and state media began a campaign criticizing Falun Gong;而在1996年，法輪功的書籍都被禁止在中國的官方媒體開始批判法輪功 的運動;

Whereas in 1999, Chinese police began disrupting Falun Gong morning exercises in public parks and began searching the homes of Falun Gong practitioners;而在1999年，中國警方開始破壞法輪功晨練的市民公園，並開始搜 索家園法輪功學員;

Whereas on April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the State Council Office of Petitions in Beijing, next to the Communist Party leadership compound, to request that arrested Falun Gong practitioners be released, the ban on publication of Falun Gong books be lifted, and that Falun Gong practitioners be allowed to resume their activities without government interference;而在1999年4月25日，1萬多名法輪功學員聚集在國務院信訪辦公室在北京，旁邊共產黨的領導化合物，請求抓 捕法輪功學員被釋放，禁止出版法輪功的書籍被取消，而法輪功學員被允許恢復他們的活動沒有政府干預;

Whereas on the same day, immediately after then-Premier Zhu Rongji met with Falun Gong representatives in his office and agreed to the release of arrested practitioners, Communist Party Chairman Jiang Zemin criticized Zhu’s actions and ordered a crackdown on Falun Gong;而在同一天結束後，當時的朱 鎔基總理會見了法輪功學員代表在他的辦公室，並同意釋放被逮捕的人士，共產黨的批評江澤民主席朱的行動，並下令鎮壓法輪功;

Whereas in June 1999, Jiang Zemin ordered the creation of the 6-10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus, given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong;而在1999年6月，江澤民下令設立的610辦公室，法外安全機構的任務是“剷除”法輪功;

Whereas in July 1999, Chinese police began arresting leading Falun Gong practitioners;而在1999年7月，中國警方開始逮捕法輪功學員的領導;

Whereas on July 22, 1999, Chinese state media began a major propaganda campaign to ban Falun Gong for “disturbing social order” and warning Chinese citizens that the practice of Falun Gong was forbidden;而在1999年7月 22日，中國官方媒體開始了大規模宣傳活動，禁止法輪功“擾亂社會秩序”，並警告中國公民的做法法輪功被禁止;

Whereas in October 1999, Party Chairman Jiang Zemin, according to western press articles, “ordered that Falun Gong be branded as a ‘cult’, and then demanded that a law be passed banning cults”;而在1999年10月，黨主席江澤民根據西 方報刊上的文章，“下令法輪功被命名為1’邪教’，並要求通過一項法律，取締邪教組織”;

Whereas Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falun Gong is a suicidal and militant “evil cult” rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and exercise;而中共當局投入了大量的時間和資源在過去10年全球範圍內傳播虛假宣傳，聲稱法輪功是自 殺，好戰的“邪教”，而不是一種精神運動，借鑒了傳統觀念的冥想和運動;

Whereas on October 10, 2004, the House of Representatives adopted by voice vote House Concurrent Resolution 304, which had 75 bipartisan co-sponsors, titled “Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People’s Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China,” and that the text of this resolution noted that “the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States”;而 在2004年10月10日，眾議院口頭表決通過了眾議院304號決議的同時，該75兩黨共同提案，題為“的意思表示，國會就政府壓迫的人民共和國中國對法 輪功的美國和中國“，並認為這項決議的案文指出，”中國政府還試圖壓制法輪功運動和中國民運組織在美國境內“;

Whereas, on October 18, 2005, highly respected human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng wrote a letter to Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao calling for an end to the persecution of Falun雖 然，在2005年10月18號，是非常尊重人權高智晟律師致信中共黨主席胡錦濤和國務院總理溫家寶呼籲結束迫害法輪功
Gong and Chinese authorities, in response, closed his law office and took away his law license, with Chinese security forces suspected of being directly involved in Mr. Gao’s disappearance on February 4, 2009;龔 和當局的回應，關閉他的辦公室，拿走了他的律師執照，與中國安全部隊涉嫌直接參與高先生的失踪於2009年2月4日;

Whereas Gao Zhisheng’s family has subsequently been granted political asylum in the United States;而高智晟的家人後來獲得政治庇護，美國;

Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture in its fourth periodic report of China, issued on December 12, 2008, stated that “The State party should immediately conduct or commission an independent investigation of the claims that some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and used for organ transplants and take measures, as appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished.”;鑑於聯合國禁止酷刑委員會在其第四次定期報告中國，發表08年12月12日指出， “締約國應立即進行或委託獨立調查的要求，一些法輪功學員遭受酷刑和用於器官移植，並採取措施，酌情確保那些對這些事件負有責任受到起訴和懲罰。“;

Whereas the Amnesty International 2008 annual report states that “Falun Gong practitioners were at particularly high risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention * * * during the year 2007 over 100 Falun Gong practitioners were reported to have died in detention or shortly after release as a result of torture, denial of food or medical treatment, and other forms of ill-treatment.”;鑑於大赦國際2008年年度報告指出， “法輪功學員，尤其是高風險的酷刑和其他虐待被拘留* * * 2007年期間，100多名法輪功學員被報已死亡被拘留或釋放不久結果酷刑，剝奪食物或醫療，和其他形式的虐待。“;

Whereas according to the 2008 Department of State’s Human Rights Report on China, “Some foreign observers而按照2008年國務院的人權報告對中國，“一些外國觀察家
estimated that Falun Gong adherents constituted at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in re-education through labor (RTL) camps, while Falun Gong sources overseas placed the number even higher.”;據 估計，法輪功信徒組成的至少一半的正式記錄的25萬囚犯中重新勞教（RTL）的營地，而海外法輪功來源放置的數量增加。“;

Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “The (Chinese) central government intensified its nine-year campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in the months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer而根據2008年年度報告國會執行委 員會的中國，說：“（中國）中央政府加強了9年的迫害運動，法輪功學員1995年11月至2008年北京夏季
Olympic Games.”;奧運會。“;

Whereas Falun Gong-related websites remain among the most systematically and hermetically blocked by China’s Internet firewall; and鑑於法輪功相關的網站仍然是最系統和密封封鎖中國的互聯網防火牆;和

Whereas, according to an April 2009 New York Times report, “In the past year, as many as 8,000 (Falun Gong practitioners have been detained, according to experts on human rights, and at least 100 have died in custody”:而 根據2009年4月1紐約時報報導，“在過去的一年中，多達8000（法輪功練習者被拘留，據專家人權，至少有100人死於羈押”：

Now, therefore, be it因此，現在無論是

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—解決，那眾議院，
(1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs; （1）表示同情法輪功學員和他們的家人誰遭受迫害，恐嚇，監禁，酷刑，甚至死亡在過去十年僅僅因為他們的堅持個人的信念;

(2) calls upon the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6- 10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including those practitioners who are the relatives of United States citizens and permanent residents; and （2）籲請政府對中華人民共和國中國立即停止，並停止其活動，迫害，恐嚇，監禁和酷刑的法輪功學員，立即取消6 – 10個辦公室，法外安全機構賦予的任務來“剷除”法輪功，並立即釋放法輪功學員，被拘留僅供自己的信念，從監獄和勞教所勞動（RTL）的營地，包括醫生誰 是親戚美國公民和永久居民;及

(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government. （3）呼籲總統和國會議員，以紀念11週年，中國官方鎮壓法輪功精神運動適當和有效地公開表示聲援練習者在中國受迫害，只是因為他們個人的看法，以及會見 法輪功學員隨時隨地以表明支持良心自由仍然是一個基本原則，美國政府。