Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR130 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 130
5	5	Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in condemning the
6	6	Government of the People’s Republic of China for its harassment and
7	7	efforts to intimidate American citizens and other individuals on United
8	8	States soil with the goal of suppressing speech and narratives the Peo-
9	9	ple’s Republic of China finds unwelcome.
10	10	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
11	11	FEBRUARY13, 2025
12	12	Mr. B
13	13	ERA(for himself and Mr. BARR) submitted the following resolution;
14	14	which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition
15	15	to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Education and Workforce, for
16	16	a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
17	17	consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
18	18	mittee concerned
19	19	RESOLUTION
20	20	Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in
21	21	condemning the Government of the People’s Republic
22	22	of China for its harassment and efforts to intimidate
23	23	American citizens and other individuals on United States
24	24	soil with the goal of suppressing speech and narratives
25	25	the People’s Republic of China finds unwelcome.
26	26	Whereas freedom of speech is essential to the functioning of
27	27	a free and open society, allowing for the exchange of
28	28	ideas and accountability of governments and institutions;
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31	31	•HRES 130 IH
32	32	Whereas Congress relies on credible, independent research
33	33	and analysis from academic institutions and think tanks
34	34	to inform and help shape United States policy;
35	35	Whereas the exchange of ideas between United States and
36	36	People’s Republic of China (PRC) scholars, including in
37	37	the form of collaborative research and Track 1.5 and
38	38	Track 2.0 discussions, plays an important role in pro-
39	39	moting better understanding between the 2 countries;
40	40	Whereas, in November 2023, PRC leader Xi Jinping called
41	41	on the United States and China to ‘‘build more bridges
42	42	and pave more roads for people-to-people interactions’’
43	43	and ‘‘not erect barriers or create a chilling effect’’;
44	44	Whereas the PRC Government has engaged in a wide range
45	45	of activities intended to intimidate United States scholars
46	46	who engage in research the PRC Government and Chi-
47	47	nese Communist Party find unwelcome, including—
48	48	(1) unleashing personal attacks on United States
49	49	scholars in PRC state media and quasi-state media;
50	50	(2) pressuring PRC citizens to resign from jobs sup-
51	51	porting the research of United States scholars;
52	52	(3) withdrawing invitations for United States schol-
53	53	ars to attend conferences in the PRC; and
54	54	(4) sending PRC diplomats and nongovernment sur-
55	55	rogates to United States scholars’ offices to protest their
56	56	research, discourage future research on specific topics,
57	57	and warn against scholarly collaboration with specific
58	58	other United States scholars;
59	59	Whereas the Department of State has stated in regard to the
60	60	PRC state media and quasi-state media attacks on
61	61	United States scholars that ‘‘combating transnational re-
62	62	pression is a priority component of U.S. efforts to
63	63	counter rising authoritarianism and defend human rights
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66	66	•HRES 130 IH
67	67	around the world’’, emphasizing that ‘‘any kind of har-
68	68	assment’’ toward academics, scholars, journalists, or
69	69	other individuals is ‘‘unacceptable’’, and noting that, ‘‘ev-
70	70	eryone has a right to express their point of view’’;
71	71	Whereas the PRC Government’s harassment of United States
72	72	scholars whose research the PRC disagrees with and the
73	73	PRC Government’s efforts to intimidate other United
74	74	States and PRC scholars into distancing themselves from
75	75	such scholars creates a chilling effect on United States-
76	76	PRC academic exchange and research;
77	77	Whereas PRC restrictions on visas for scholars whose re-
78	78	search the PRC disagrees with limit visits and field re-
79	79	search of United States scholars in China that promote
80	80	global understanding of the PRC and the bilateral rela-
81	81	tionship;
82	82	Whereas, in 2023 and 2024, the Hong Kong police put 19
83	83	Hong Kong democracy activists living overseas, including
84	84	a United States citizen, on a wanted list and offered
85	85	bounties for information leading to their capture, and in
86	86	2024 cancelled the passports of 7 of them;
87	87	Whereas, according to the Washington Post, in November
88	88	2023, the PRC consulate in Los Angeles paid for the
89	89	hotel rooms and meals of pro-PRC counter-protesters
90	90	who turned out on the streets of San Francisco during
91	91	a visit by Xi Jinping, and hired private security guards
92	92	for the visit;
93	93	Whereas, during PRC leader Xi’s 2023 visit, some counter-
94	94	protesters and consulate-hired security guards reportedly
95	95	physically harassed and intimidated protesters opposed to
96	96	Beijing’s policies who were exercising their First Amend-
97	97	ment rights;
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100	100	•HRES 130 IH
101	101	Whereas consulate-hired security guards were reportedly in-
102	102	structed by the PRC consulate to ‘‘protect ‘our’ friends’’,
103	103	with one guard stating that the use of violence ‘‘was al-
104	104	ways insinuated’’;
105	105	Whereas, ahead of Xi’s departure from San Francisco, Chemi
106	106	Lhamo, a Tibetan activist holding a Tibetan flag, was
107	107	pressed against the railing of a bridge, unable to extract
108	108	herself from a crowd of PRC supporters that included 2
109	109	PRC consular officials, and at least 8 men from the same
110	110	crowd reportedly attacked 2 Tibetan teenagers later that
111	111	day;
112	112	Whereas, according to the advocacy organization Freedom
113	113	House, the Government of the PRC is increasingly dis-
114	114	regarding the laws of the United States in order to
115	115	threaten, harass, surveil, stalk, intimidate, and, in some
116	116	cases, plot physical harm to individuals across the United
117	117	States;
118	118	Whereas, between 2014 and April 2023, Freedom House cat-
119	119	aloged 253 instances globally of direct, physical attacks
120	120	originating from the PRC, with the PRC accounting for
121	121	30 percent of all recorded incidents, far more than any
122	122	other country:
123	123	Whereas, in 2023, Freedom House reported that ‘‘China is
124	124	the world’s leading perpetrator of transnational repres-
125	125	sion, employing a wide array of tactics and targeting both
126	126	groups and individuals’’;
127	127	Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation defines
128	128	transnational repression as when foreign governments
129	129	reach beyond their borders to intimidate, silence, coerce,
130	130	harass, or harm members of their diaspora and exile
131	131	communities in the United States;
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134	134	•HRES 130 IH
135	135	Whereas, in April 2023, the Department of Justice charged
136	136	40 officers of China’s Ministry of Public Security and 2
137	137	officials of the Cyberspace Administration of China with
138	138	engaging in transnational repression schemes targeting
139	139	American citizens and lawful permanent residents; and
140	140	Whereas then-Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen
141	141	of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division
142	142	stated at the time, ‘‘These cases demonstrate the lengths
143	143	to which the PRC government will go to silence and har-
144	144	ass U.S. persons who exercise their fundamental rights to
145	145	speak out against PRC oppression’’, and that ‘‘these ac-
146	146	tions violate our laws and are an affront to our demo-
147	147	cratic values and basic human rights.’’: Now, therefore,
148	148	be it
149	149	Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
150	150	(1) strongly condemns the Government of the 2
151	151	People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) efforts to sup-3
152	152	press free speech, assembly, and academic freedom 4
153	153	in the United States, including through harassment 5
154	154	and intimidation; 6
155	155	(2) calls on United States Federal and local law 7
156	156	enforcement agencies to enhance vigilance and take 8
157	157	swift action against the PRC’s attempts to extend 9
158	158	its intolerance of dissent into the United States and 10
159	159	to target people exercising their First Amendment 11
160	160	rights on American soil; 12
161	161	(3) urges United States academic institutions 13
162	162	and think tanks to protect academic freedom by re-14
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165	165	•HRES 130 IH
166	166	sisting pressure from foreign entities, including the 1
167	167	PRC, aimed at stifling open scholarly research and 2
168	168	debate; 3
169	169	(4) reaffirms the United States commitment to 4
170	170	defend the rights of individuals to express them-5
171	171	selves freely without fear of retaliation, both domes-6
172	172	tically and globally; 7
173	173	(5) calls on the executive branch, including the 8
174	174	Secretary of State, to raise in diplomatic engage-9
175	175	ments with the PRC Government incidents of PRC 10
176	176	harassment and intimidation intended to limit free 11
177	177	speech, highlighting specific cases of intimidation of 12
178	178	individuals intended to stifle free speech in the 13
179	179	United States; 14
180	180	(6) advocates for international collaboration 15
181	181	with like-minded allies and partners to highlight and 16
182	182	address the threat of transnational repression and 17
183	183	establish global norms to combat it; and 18
184	184	(7) calls on United States representatives to 19
185	185	international organizations to use their voice and 20
186	186	vote to support resolutions condemning the 21
187	187	transnational suppression of free speech and de-22
188	188	manding accountability. 23
189	189	Æ
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