Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding several individuals who are being held as prisoners of conscience by the Chinese Government for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my good friend, the gentleman from California, for being the manager of this legislation on the majority side.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I would first like to commend my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), for his leadership on this Tibet issue and for his introduction of this important resolution.

I would also like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, for allowing this resolution to move to the floor and also the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), our senior Democratic ranking member, for his support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bipartisan piece of legislation. The resolution before the House is not the first expression of Congress' great concern regarding the treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese Government. Two years ago, Congress overwhelmingly approved the Tibet Policy Act, and we have also considered several resolutions regarding the lack of political and religious freedom in Tibet, but as Congress debated these larger policy matters, it was easy to lose sight of the impact of Chinese repression on individual Tibetans. To understand the brutality of Chinese rule in Tibet, we need to put a human face on it.

The Udall resolution accomplishes this important task by calling attention to the case of Phuntsog Nyidron, a Tibetan nun who is the longest surviving female political prisoner in Tibet.

What was Phuntsog Nyidron's crime? Three days after learning that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, she led five other nuns in a protest in downtown Lhasa against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Instead of ignoring these peaceful protests, Chinese authorities arrested the nuns and subjected them to horrific torture.

Phuntsog Nyidron and her fellow nuns were kicked, beaten, and given electric shocks all over their bodies. They were strung up by their hands and beaten with an iron rod, all this because they were unhappy with the Chinese occupation of Tibet and dared to speak their minds.

Mr. Speaker, even torture would not silence Phuntsog Nyidron. In 1993 Phuntsog Nyidron and 13 other imprisoned nuns secretly recorded songs about Tibetan independence and smuggled their recordings out of prison. In one song, the nun thanked, ``all of you outside who have done all that you can for us in prison. We will never forget you.''

In another song, the nuns sang of being ``beaten and treated brutally, but this will never change the Tibetan people's perseverance.''

Mr. Speaker, when the Chinese Government found out about these songs, they extended the sentence of Phuntsog Nyidron to 17 years because she was ``spreading counterrevolutionary propaganda.'' Mr. Speaker, sentencing a Tibetan nun to 17 years in prison for peacefully protesting the treatment of Tibetans and making a musical tape to expose prison conditions is absolutely outrageous, in my humble opinion, and a violation of every international human rights treaty to which China is a party.

Today, Mr. Speaker, we in the House are sending a signal to Phuntsog Nyidron that we have not forgotten her, her fellow nuns, and China's other fellow prisoners of conscience. We are signaling to the Chinese Government that it is time to release Phuntsog Nyidron and other prisoners of conscience as a humanitarian gesture, particularly as China celebrates the Lunar New Year.

Today, we are celebrating the perseverance of the Tibetan people who have suffered enormous repression and deprivation over the last 50 years. The Tibetan people will one day regain their freedom, and those who languish in Chinese prisons for opposing Chinese rule in Tibet will be celebrated as heroes.

Mr. Speaker, years ago it was my privilege to accompany our former chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, my good friend and the gentleman from New York, Mr. Ben Gilman, also an outstanding leader of our Nation who was a great advocate of human rights throughout the world. We traveled to the town of Dharmsala in India, where the Dalai Lama and his Tibetan followers live since they were driven out of Tibet by Chinese authorities. To this day, I will never forget the privilege of meeting with the Dalai Lama and the good people of Tibet who are currently living in this town of Dharmsala in India.

The situation between the people of Tibet and China is not an easy matter to resolve, but we certainly should express our grave concerns with the way the people of Tibet are treated by the Chinese Government. At this time I will not get into the debate as to whether the Tibetans are of Chinese ancestry and if at one time or another Tibet was part of the Chinese empire centuries ago. Of paramount importance is our concern for the inhumane treatment of our fellow human beings anywhere on this planet, the very reason why this resolution is important to note the will of this body before our Nation and to the world.

Mr. Speaker, the great people of Tibet truly appreciate and know the meaning of freedom because they are not free, and so I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 157.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I know the distinguished minority leader would have loved to be here this morning to express her views on this very important issue, but she is necessarily otherwise obligated and will submit a statement for the record on this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, again I commend my good friend from California (Mr. Royce) for his comments. Over the years, both of us, as members of the Committee on International Relations, know that the issue of Tibet has always been one of those issues that we want to address forthrightly, but then there is always this idea or the response from the Chinese Government saying, well, this is really an internal affair kind of thing and, therefore, it is not any other country's business. I wonder if my good friend from California agrees with this statement being the response of our Chinese friends.

I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank my good friend for his edification and certainly providing a better understanding for our colleagues on this important issue.

I also want to thank my good friend, the gentleman from New Mexico, not only for his initiative but for his leadership in bringing this resolution for the Members to discuss. And I certainly would like to emphasize again that we need to support and to pass this legislation to send a clear message to the Chinese Government that this is not acceptable and we should do this at all costs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 157) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding several individuals who are being held as prisoners of conscience by the Chinese Government for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to begin by commending my colleague, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), for sponsoring this resolution; and this resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives regarding individuals being held as prisoners of conscience by the Chinese Government for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet. It calls for the Chinese Government to release all its prisoners of conscience.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution notes that the United States Department of State and international human rights organizations have documented continuing and widespread human rights violations committed by the Chinese Government throughout China and throughout Tibet. This resolution specifically highlights the plight of imprisoned Tibetan nun Phuntsog Nyidron who was arrested along with five other nuns back in 1989 for peacefully demonstrating against China's occupation of Tibet. She was beaten and she was tortured for her peaceful protest, and further, her prison sentence was extended when she and 13 other nuns secretly recorded and smuggled out of Drapchi prison songs of Tibetan independence.

Her continued defiance of the Chinese Government earned her one of the longest reported prison sentences of any female Tibetan political prisoner, and, Mr. Speaker, she continues to languish in prison. What is more, she is hardly alone.

This resolution notes that the Chinese Government has detained hundreds of Tibetan nuns and hundreds of monks and laypersons as prisoners of conscience for one crime, and that is speaking out against the Chinese government's occupation.

Mr. Speaker, the United States House of Representatives has a long tradition of being a voice for the voiceless. The United States House of Representatives has a long tradition of being a champion for the oppressed, and, Mr. Speaker, this body has a long tradition of leading the charge for human rights, and I encourage my colleagues to support this H. Res. 157.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), the author of this resolution.

(Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I would make the observation that Tibet has been under Beijing rule since 1949, when it was invaded and at that time incorporated into China. In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled in exile to India, and he fled with tens of thousands of his followers.

The Dalai Lama has shed daylight over the years on many human rights violations. More than 1 million Tibetans have died under the Chinese occupation as a result of torture and as a result of starvation and as a result of execution.

No nation is exempt from the demands of human dignity. I should note that this House has a notable record when it comes to Tibet. The cochairmen of the Human Rights Caucus, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), have been instrumental in this effort. Last year, the Dalai Lama gave the keynote address to the Human Rights Caucus to recognize the 20th anniversary of our Human Rights Caucus here.

The People's Republic of China has yet to demonstrate its willingness to abide by internationally accepted norms of freedom in terms of freedom of belief, or freedom of expression, or freedom of association. China is still holding hundreds of political prisoners

of conscience for peaceful protests against the Chinese occupation.

Seventeen years of additional sentence for singing a Tibetan song in prison is truly draconian, but it is not atypical of the treatment of those who try to keep their culture alive or those who try to keep their religion alive; nor are the tortures catalogued here today by the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), nor are those tortures atypical of what we have heard in committee about the condition that goes on in those prisons. That is why this resolution is so important.

The human rights violations, the arbitrary arrests, the detention without public trial of Tibetans who peacefully express their political or religious views must come to an end, and I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

In point of fact, Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to respond that China invaded Tibet in 1949 and subjugated its people. So for the government of Beijing to now say this is an internal matter, first there are two points here: First of all, they are claiming it is an internal matter because they subjugated an indigenous people in Tibet and then systematically killed over a million Tibetans and then moved people from mainland China into the Tibetan communities in order to try to erase a culture.

Secondarily, even if this was action taking place in Beijing itself, we would be speaking out. Why? Because there are certain fundamental standards of human rights when it comes to freedom of religion and freedom of speech. And when we have things as egregious as a young woman who is a nun, who is tortured and sent to prison for an additional 17 years for singing a cultural song about Tibetan heritage, that is so outrageous that the international community would speak out regardless of what country that crime against humanity occurred in. And this is truly criminal activity.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 157, which urges the Chinese Government to release all prisoners held for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, belief, or association.

Thank you, Congressman Tom Udall for taking the lead in introducing this resolution and for all of your efforts for the people of Tibet. I am proud to be a co-sponsor.

The Chinese Government continues to impose severely repressive measures against any display of support for an independent Tibet. We know the facts. The State Department's Annual Country Report on Human Rights states ``. . . [Chinese] authorities continued to commit serious human rights abuses, including instances of torture, arbitrary arrest, detention without public trial, and lengthy detention of Tibetan nationalists for peacefully expressing their political or religious views.''

We know that more than 1 million Tibetans have died under the Chinese occupation. More than 6,000 monasteries and irreplaceable jewels of Tibetan culture have been destroyed. Tibetans are routinely imprisoned and tortured for non-violently expressing their views. Beatings, prolonged exposure to extreme heat and cold, electroshock, sleep and food deprivation and forced labor are among the techniques used to torture Tibetan political prisoners.

Since China's 1988 ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, more than 70 Tibetans have died as a direct result of torture and inhumane treatment in Chinese prisons in Tibet. Hundreds of Tibetans are currently in prison for peaceful expressions of political or religious belief. I would like to mention a few of these brave individuals.

phuntsog nyidron

Phuntsog Nyidron is a nun from outside Lhasa. She has been in prison for 16 years. On October 14, 1989, she participated in a peaceful demonstration to protest China's occupation of Tibet. During the arrest, she and other nuns were subjected to beatings with iron rods, kicks, and punches. She is now the longest serving female Tibetan political prisoner. She is reportedly in poor health and is suffering from a respiratory ailment and severe internal problems.

the drapchi 14: ``singing nuns''

While in a Chinese prison for political crimes in 1993, Phuntsog Nyidron and 13 other nuns secretly recorded songs proclaiming their love for their Tibetan homeland and their families. On the tape, each nun states her name and dedicates a song to her family and supporters.

The tapes were smuggled out of the prison and the recordings were circulated inside Tibet and around the world. These young women became known as the Drapchi 14 and the Singing Nuns.

tibetan refugees sent back to tibet

I am also concerned about Tibetan refugees sent back to China by the Government of Nepal. Last May, in close coordination with the Chinese Embassy, Nepal deported 18 Tibetan refugees who were seeking safe transit through Nepal. This violates the long-standing agreement that Nepal will turn over refugees to UNHCR to facilitate safe transit to the Tibetan exile community in India.

For many years, Nepal has worked cooperatively with UNHCR. They have earned a strong reputation for their humanitarian approached to Tibetan refugees. I am disturbed by the Government of Nepal's recent actions in violation of international and humanitarian norms. The prison conditions awaiting repatriated Tibetans are harsh. From first hand reports we have learned about the torture and maltreatment of the 18 Tibetans deported by Nepal. Unfortunately, the deportation of Tibetan refugees continues.

On January 9, Radio Free Asia reported on that 21 refugees were deported by Nepalese border security. On January 15, we have learned that three Tibetan refugees were handed over to Chinese border police by Nepalese officials.

We expect Nepal to adhere with its own written policy and turn over all Tibetan refugees to UNHCR. Today we are sending a clear message to the Government of Nepal--the U.S. Government is watching your actions closely.

conclusion

The survival of the Tibetan identity is an issue of urgent U.S. and international concern. I am proud to stand with my colleagues today to demand that the Chinese Government immediately release all prisoners of conscience in China and Tibet. As we honor the brave and heroic prisoners of conscience, we must heed the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is a constant reminder that the crisis in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world. Unless we are prepared to confront the Chinese Government on the issue of Tibet, we cannot be consistent when we talk about human rights in any other place in the world. We have not forgotten the people of Tibet in their struggle. We must and will continue our efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to rise in support of my bill, House Resolution 157, which calls on China to release its Tibetan prisoners of conscience. I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on International Relations, for moving this bill to the House floor today.

Around 100 political prisoners remain behind bars in the Drapchi prison in Lhasa, the most notorious Chinese prison in Tibet. I was lucky enough last fall to meet one of Drapchi's most recently released political prisoners. Ngawang Sangdrol was her name. This humble remarkable young woman survived 11 years of torture and deprivation in prison before she reached her 21st birthday. She was released from prison in 2002 and was allowed to travel to the United States for medical treatment in March of 2003.

Despite the horrific treatment she suffered in prison, her spirit was never broken and her dedication to the cause of Tibetan freedom never flagged. The horrific treatment that Ngawang Sangdrol experienced in prison is unimaginable to most of us. She recalls being made to stare at the sun while holding newspapers under her arms and between her knees. If the newspapers fell, she would be beaten. She was electrocuted with a baton and was made to run with her arms behind her while stones were thrown at her.

When I asked this young woman, who had been through so much, what the worst day of her imprisonment was, she responded she had no answer; ``they were all the worst day of my life,'' she said.

Many of the Tibetan nuns and monks who suffered along with Ngawang Sangdrol remain in Drapchi prison today. Mentioned explicitly in this resolution is a nun by the name of Phuntsog Nyidron. This 34-year-old Tibetan nun is the longest serving female political prisoner in Tibet. She was only 20 years old when she was arrested in 1989 for taking part in a peaceful protest. Her sentence was extended in 1993 when she and 13 other nuns recorded and smuggled out of prison songs about their love for their country, their people, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetans are a peace loving and resilient people, and even under the Chinese occupation they have been able to retain their culture outside Tibet's borders. In my district in New Mexico I enjoy having a significant group of Tibetan refugees as constituents. It is these Tibetans and the people who care about them who led to this resolution's introduction and its eventual passage.

This resolution also comes at a crucial time in the treatment of Tibetan refugees elsewhere. After the Nepalese government handed over 18 Tibetan refugees to the Chinese Government last summer, the U.S. Congress put significant pressure on them to issue an official policy stating that it would not happen again. We now know definitively that at least two of the Tibetans who were given to the Chinese authorities were thrown in prison, whereupon they were tortured. However, even after the Nepalese government issued its new policy, reports continue to surface that they are handing over Tibetan refugees to the Chinese. This is unacceptable. I take this opportunity not only to call on the Chinese Government to release its political prisoners but also to tell the Nepalese government that the United States takes very seriously the welfare of Tibetan refugees everywhere.

With the passage of this resolution today, we send a message to the Chinese Government that we have not turned a blind eye to Tibet. Quite the contrary. We closely monitor what occurs in Tibet and will continue to do so. And with that we call on the Chinese to release its political prisoners out of good will and responsibility.

There is a poem by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama that ends: ``Work for peace in your heart and in the world work for peace. And I say again never give up. No matter what is going on, never give up.''

It is with this sentiment that I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution. There is credible evidence that international action on behalf of prisoners in China improves their situation. Since 2002, nine political prisoners have been released from prison as a result of international pressure.

On behalf of Phuntsog Nyidron and her fellow prisoners who are being so unjustly treated, please join me in voting in favor of House Resolution 157. I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) for his assistance in this matter and all the other Members the bipartisan group of Members that are a part of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 157, calling on the government of the People's Republic of China to release all prisoners of conscience, including Phuntsog Nyidron, a Tibetan nun who is currently the longest serving Tibetan political prisoner in China.

We know that the brutal regime in China has detained hundreds of Tibetan nuns, monks, and laypersons for speaking out against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. In the last session of Congress, I sponsored a resolution calling on the PRC to release the Panchen Lama, who is held in high esteem in Tibetan culture as the teacher of the Dali Lama. The Panchen Lama was abducted nearly 10 years ago at age 5. Today, his whereabouts remains unknown.

This regime has been and continues to be relentless in squelching the voices of peaceful dissident. However, even in prison, these voices have been heard. In 1993 Phuntsog

Nyidron and 13 other nuns sang and recorded songs about the plight of the Tibetan people that were smuggled out of Draphci prison, inspiring those working for peaceful change. Her prison sentence was extended for 8 years because of the recording. In 1998 it was reported that she was badly beaten after trying to protect another prisoner and that she is in poor health.

Phuntsog Nyidron is a peaceful advocate for change who should be released immediately along with the hundreds of other of prisoners of conscience in China. Although we lack specific information on each case, we know that many other Tibetans are mistreated in Chinese prisons as well. Even though China ratified the U.N. Convention against Torture in 1988, it has been reported that more than 70 Tibetans have died as a direct result of torture and inhumane treatment in Chinese prisons.

We must not forget the many other ethnic and religious groups and political dissident persecuted in the PRC today. Serious human rights abuses are carried out against the Falun Gong, Uighur Muslims, Protestants, and Catholics are well documented in State Department Reports on Human Rights and Religious Freedom.

We know that opponents of the regime continue to be unjustly imprisoned and that women continue to be subject to forced abortions. We also know that the government continues to violate international law through forcibly deporting thousands of North Koreans, many of whom are subsequently placed and concentration camps where they face persecution and death.

As both our administration and other world leaders prepare for the annual U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, I along with many of my colleagues, strongly believe that a strong resolution on human rights in China should be introduced and passed. Given continued and systematic human rights abuses carried out by the regime, anything less would be simply inexcusable.

I strongly urge my colleagues to strongly support passage of this resolution. I call upon the regime in Bejing to release Phuntsog Nyidron and the hundreds of others of political prisoners languishing in China's prisons. And I strongly urge our Administration and other governments to work towards the introduction and passage of a human rights resolution in Geneva.