US House Passes Olympics Related Measure Calling on China to End Human Rights Abuses
Chris Smith calls one-child policy "one of the greatest continuous crimes against humanity in human history"
(Washington, DC)—[On Wednesday], by a vote of 419 to 1, the U.S. House approved House Resolution 1370, introduced by Congressman Howard Berman, which calls on the Government of China to end human rights abuses to ensure that the 2008 Olympic Games take place in an atmosphere honoring Olympic traditions. An amendment, addressing China's brutally enforced one-child policy, was earlier proposed by Congressman Chris Smith, passed by a voice vote and was included in the final resolution passed today.
Recognizing the omission of the one-child policy in the original resolution, Rep. Smith offered the amendment in the Foreign Affairs Committee to strengthen the resolution. He stated, "My amendment seeks to bring some additional focus on the barbaric, cruel and hideous crime of China's coercive population control program." The Smith amendment calling on "the Government of the People's Republic of China to abandon its coercive population control policy which includes forced abortion and involuntary sterilization," was adopted by voice vote in the Committee.
In a statement released yesterday, Congressman Smith listed and thoroughly condemned the massive human rights violations of the Chinese communist regime. He stated, "For so many brave Chinese men and women, for the Tibetans, many of them Buddhist monks and nuns, for members of Falun Gong, Chinese Christians, Uighur Muslims, democracy and labor activists, and others, this has been a terrible summer not in spite of, but precisely because of the Olympic Games."
"In recent months, the Chinese Government has been filling its jails, watching, intimidating, house arresting and warning all known dissidents," said Smith who had his own trip to China disrupted earlier this month when several human rights lawyers were detained by the Chinese police when they attempted to meet with Smith and Rep. Frank Wolf.
"Tragically, but predictably, the Olympics have been the occasion of a massive crackdown designed to silence and put beyond reach all those Chinese whose views differ from the government line," said Smith.
The well known pro-life congressman's harshest words were focused on the Chinese government's one-child policy…
Smith concluded, "we need to robustly combat it (the one child policy), and impress upon the Chinese government that they must abandon their coercive population control policy."
Congressman Mike Pence expressed strong support for Smith's amendment during the debate and thanked him "for his strong moral leadership on this issue."
Pence concluded that the passage of the resolution ensured "that here in the United States of America the people of this country will say with one voice ‘we believe in freedom and we believe in life and we reject the policy of forced abortion in China and urge them to do likewise at this time.'"
To see a 3 minute video of Chris Smith's statement on the resolution during the committee debate, CLICK HERE.
To read this full report, follow the link provided.
