87R3077 BPG-D
By: Shaheen H.R. No. 10
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, For the better part of two decades, China's
communist regime has been engaged in the vile practice of forcibly
removing human organs for transplant; and
WHEREAS, In June 2019, the independent China Tribunal
announced its finding that China's regime had for decades practiced
systematic forced organ removal from prisoners of conscience; it is
believed that organs have been harvested from hundreds of thousands
of incarcerated people, mainly Falun Gong practitioners, but
possibly also Tibetan Buddhists, House Church Christians, and
members of the Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority; and
WHEREAS, China has welcomed an influx of "transplant
tourism," whereby individuals critically in need of transplants pay
thousands of dollars for one of 60,000 to 90,000 transplant
surgeries conducted each year; the number of transplants far
exceeds the number of voluntary organ donations in the country;
moreover, Chinese hospitals are able to schedule transplants of
major organs within two weeks, suggesting nefarious foreknowledge
regarding the "donation" of these organs; by contrast, America's
highly developed organ donation system requires that recipients be
placed on a carefully curated list to await the transplant of an
organ; the timing of these transplants is not predictable, as an
organ may not be available for hundreds of days, or in time for a
specific patient; and
WHEREAS, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice centered on the
values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, became
immensely popular in the 1990s; in July 1999, the Chinese Communist
Party launched an intensive, nationwide persecution designed to
eradicate the spiritual practice; Freedom House reported in 2015
that Falun Gong practitioners are the primary victims of forced
organ removal and face an elevated risk of dying or being killed in
custody; and
WHEREAS, On July 20, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
denounced 21 years of persecution of Falun Gong by China's
communist regime, declaring in a press statement: "We call on the
PRC government to immediately end its depraved abuse and
mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, release those imprisoned
due to their beliefs, [. . .] and address the whereabouts of
missing practitioners. Twenty-one years of persecution of Falun
Gong practitioners is far too long, and it must end"; and
WHEREAS, United Nations Special Rapporteurs have called on
the Chinese government to account for the sources of organs used in
transplant practices, and the World Medical Association, the
American Society of Transplantation, and the Transplantation
Society have all called for sanctions on Chinese medical
authorities; resolutions condemning organ harvesting from
prisoners of conscience have been adopted by the parliaments of
Canada and the European Union, as well as by the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the United States House of Representatives, and it is
important to join the international outcry against this major
violation of human rights; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas
Legislature hereby strongly condemn China's practice of
involuntary organ harvesting; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas House of Representatives encourage
the medical community to educate Texans about the risks of travel to
China for organ transplants to help prevent Texas residents from
unwittingly becoming involved in murder in the form of forced organ
harvesting from prisoners of conscience; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas House of Representatives
respectfully urge the United States Congress and the president of
the United States to pass laws and adopt measures prohibiting
collaboration between U.S. medical and pharmaceutical companies
and any Chinese counterparts linked with forced organ harvesting,
banning entry into the United States of those who have participated
in unethical removal of human tissues and organs, and providing for
the prosecution of such individuals.