Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced a bill on July 31 aimed at deterring the Chinese regime’s state-sanctioned killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs.
The Falun Gong Protection Act would make it U.S. policy to avoid cooperation with China in the organ transplantation field and compel Beijing to end “any state-sponsored organ harvesting campaign.”
Under the measure, the U.S. president would need to provide to relevant congressional committees a list of foreign persons deemed to have “knowingly and directly engaged in or facilitated the involuntary harvesting of organs within the People’s Republic of China.”
Those on the list would face sanctions barring them from entering the United States or engaging in U.S.-based transactions. Any current visas they hold would be invalidated. The bill also prescribes a civil penalty of up to $250,000 and a criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison for perpetrators.
Within a year of the bill becoming law, the secretaries of State and Health and Human Services, along with the director of the National Institutes of Health, would be required to issue a report on organ transplant practices in China, including with respect to Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.
The officials would need to submit a list of U.S. grants that have supported organ transplantation in China over the past 10 years. The same officials would be required to determine whether the persecution of Falun Gong constitutes an “atrocity” under the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018.
Co-sponsors of the Senate bill include Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would become the first federal law to challenge China’s persecution and its illicit organ trade targeting the faith group.
Rubio unveiled the bill as a package to counter communist China’s influence. Two other legislative proposals include the Stop CCP Act to sanction CCP officials and their adult family members for “acts of aggression, oppression, and human rights abuses.”
“Communist China has been able to get away with a campaign of widespread evil,” Rubio said in a statement. “From committing acts of genocide against religious and ethnic groups, to spearheading forced sterilization and abortions, as well as dominating crucial minerals and technologies, and impeding the sovereignty of several regional partners, the U.S. will not tolerate these practices.”
The regime should “cease its depraved actions against prisoners of conscience and act in accordance with its human rights commitments and fully comply with all relevant medical and ethical standards and best practices, including acting in the best interests of the patient, informed consent, and respect for personhood,” the spokesperson told NTD, a sister outlet of The Epoch Times.
Article Courtesy of The Epoch Times
By Eva Fu
Eva Fu is a New York-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. politics, U.S.-China relations, religious freedom, and human rights. Contact Eva at [email protected]
