Bill aims to take a stand against the ‘Chinese Communist Party and its heinous human rights violations,’ Rep. Scott Perry said.
WASHINGTON—A bipartisan bill aimed at curbing the Chinese Communist Party’s decades-long persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is heading to the House floor on June 25.
It would also make it U.S. policy to avoid cooperation with China in the organ transplant field, and to ally with international partners to highlight the persecution of Falun Gong and coordinate targeted sanctions and visa restrictions.
Revelations of forced organ harvesting in China have caused international alarm in recent years, especially following an independent tribunal’s investigation in 2019 that concluded that the gruesome practice had taken place “on a significant scale.” Detained adherents of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline consisting of meditation exercises and teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, constituted the majority of the victims, according to the tribunal’s findings.
“I’m proud to fight against the horrific practice of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners,” he told The Epoch Times. “It’s time we see which members of Congress are willing to stand up against the Chinese Communist Party and its heinous human rights violations like organ harvesting.”
Several other lawmakers supporting the measure said they are glad to see it moving ahead.
“We must do everything in our power to hold organ traffickers accountable for their unspeakable crimes, and this bipartisan legislation, which I was proud to co-lead, is a huge step toward that,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) told The Epoch Times, noting that he will “continue to speak out unwaveringly against the restriction of human rights and the persecution of religious groups, wherever they occur.”
The regime’s “deplorable” campaign, he said at the time, “has a direct impact on the U.S. citizens and people living in the United States of America.”
Ahead of the House vote on the bill, Mr. Bilirakis said that “holding China accountable for its reprehensible human rights violations” is one of his priorities.
“These bills are just a start to the work we must do to pressure China to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and all religious minorities,” he told The Epoch Times.
