Congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

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

I thank my good friend and colleague from Florida for his eloquent statement. I thank the Speaker and the majority leader for bringing this resolution to the floor, and of course to Howard Berman the chairman and IIeana Ros-Lehtinen for their strong support for it as well.

Madam Speaker, for far too long the Chinese Government has evaded virtually all serious scrutiny of its horrific human rights record-- usually by employing bullying tactics, including threats to nations, multilateral organizations like the U.N., and to individuals. Today the Chinese Government brutalizes women and children through forced abortion and coerced sterilization as part of its barbaric one-child- per-couple policy, which makes brothers and sisters illegal. Today China crushes all political opposition. It tortures and incarcerates Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists and Christians. Today China violently crushes independent labor unions and has transformed the Internet into a tool for surveillance and censorship.

I note parenthetically, Madam Speaker, that immediately prior to the Olympics, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and I visited Beijing, one of many human rights trips to China. While we were there, we sought to meet with some of the house church leaders who wanted to meet with us and pray with us. All but one were arrested and detained, and after we left that particular pastor was arrested and detained and interrogated as well.

Madam Speaker, the naming of Liu Xiaobo as the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the Chinese Government's outrageous response to that naming, including the way they have mistreated his wife but now it's even worse, and friends can't even travel to Oslo to be a part of the ceremony, that reaction, of course is the underlying problem. The actual abuses that are committed, oblige us to sustained scrutiny and meaningful action. News reports suggest that over one-and-a-half dozen countries have been so intimidated by Beijing that they won't even send a delegation to Oslo. I think that's outrageous.

So today I urge my colleagues to adopt H. Res. 1717, expressing Congress'

profound respect for and solidarity with Liu Xiaobo and all those who peacefully advocate for human rights and democracy in the PRC.

Madam Speaker, the resolution honors Liu Xiaobo, who in the 1980s had a brilliant academic career in front of him in China. When the Tiananmen Square demonstrations began in 1989, he was actually a visiting professor in New York City. He effectively gave all of that up when he flew back to China to join the students demonstrating for democracy on the square, and even there he insisted that the students themselves adhere to a democratic process. Liu has been working and sacrificing for democratic reform ever since--through hundreds of remarkable essays that he has written and the courage with which he has borne imprisonment, no less than four times.

My resolution highlights Charter 08, the democracy proclamation that Liu played a leading role in organizing, drafting, and of which he was one of the first signers. It is an astonishing document, a worthy heir of the great models that it is based upon, the U.S. Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Charter 77, the Czech human rights declaration that in the late 1970s contributed so much to the rebirth of conscience and respect for the rule of just law in eastern European captive nations, and ultimately to their peaceful democratization.

But the Chinese Government saw in this magnificent document only a crime, as my friend and colleague pointed out earlier, ``inciting subversion of state power''--whatever that is. The government arrested Mr. Liu in December of 2008 and in December 2009 sentenced him to 11 years in prison.

Madam Speaker, in February of this year, I led a group of some six Members in petitioning the peace prize committee to name Mr. Liu and two other Chinese dissidents for the Nobel Peace Prize. Our nomination described him as ``a visionary leader,'' remarkable for his patriotism and civic courage and the generous tone of his work. This man is absolutely nonviolent.

Though we didn't know it at the time, many other people had the exact same idea. Mr. Liu was nominated by two Nobel Peace Prize laureates-- the 14th Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu--as well as by former Czech President Vaclav Havel and many members of the Czech and Slovak parliaments, the Norwegian parliamentarian, and a number of human rights defenders from around the world and leaders in the fields of philosophy, literature, philanthropy and finance.

Madam Speaker, H. Res. 1717 underscores and points up the words of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that said, and I quote: ``The campaign to establish human rights in China is being waged by many Chinese. Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.'' The resolution explicitly states that in honoring Liu Xiaobo, it honors all those who have promoted democratic reform in China, including all those who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstration. After Liu's wife told him of the award, he wept and dedicated the prize to ``the Tiananmen martyrs.''

Madam Speaker, the resolution makes it very clear that Mr. Liu Xiaobo is a political prisoner, emphasizes that ``violations of human rights,'' including his persecution, ``are matters of legitimate concern to other governments,'' because we are hearing the tired old refrain from the government in Beijing that this is purely an internal matter.

Similarly, the resolution calls on the Chinese Government to cease censoring media and Internet reporting of the award and cease defaming Mr. Liu as a ``political tool of the West'' and as a ``traitorous operative.'' These are ridiculous charges, but they go to the heart of the issue that Mr. Liu himself analyzed in his 2005 essay called ``The CPC's Dictatorial Patriotism,'' the dictatorial government's fallacious equation of itself with the Chinese nation, so that whoever opposes the dictatorship is treated as an enemy of the state.

Finally, I will conclude with Liu Xiaobo's closing statement in his 2009 trial, only a small part of it. It is very rich and I hope all will read it. I will put it in the Record. This shows his gentleness of soul. He said:

``But I still want to say to this regime, which is depriving me of my freedom, that I stand by the convictions I expressed in my June 2 Hunger Strike Declaration 20 years ago--I have no enemies and no hatred. None of the police who monitored, arrested and interrogated me, none of the prosecutors who indicted me, and none of the judges who judged me are my enemies. Hatred can rot away at a person's intelligence and conscience.

Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society's tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation's progress toward freedom and democracy. That is why I hope to be able to transcend my personal experiences as I look upon our nation's development and social change, to counter the regime's hostility with utmost goodwill, and to dispel hatred with love.''

To his wife, he said:

``My dear, with your love I can calmly face my impending trial, having no regrets about the choices I've made and am optimistically awaiting tomorrow. I look toward to the day when my country is a land with freedom of expression, where the speech of every citizen will be treated equally well.''

This man is a moral giant, absolutely worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, and he is the future of China.

I Have No Enemies: My Final Statement

(By Liu Xiaobo)

Closing Statement in Court. Translation by HRIC, based on a translation

by J. Latourelle, December 23, 2009

In the course of my life, for more than half a century,

June 1989 was the major turning point. Up to that point, I

was a member of the first class to enter university when

college entrance examinations were reinstated following the

Cultural Revolution (Class of '77). From BA to MA and on to

PhD, my academic career was all smooth sailing. Upon

receiving my degrees, I stayed on to teach at Beijing Normal

University. As a teacher, I was well received by the

students. At the same time, I was a public intellectual,

writing articles and books that created quite a stir during

the 1980s, frequently receiving invitations to give talks

around the country, and going abroad as a visiting scholar

upon invitation from Europe and America. What I demanded of

myself was this: whether as a person or as a writer, I would

lead a life of honesty, responsibility, and dignity. After

that, because I had returned from the U.S. to take part in

the 1989 Movement, I was thrown into prison for ``the crime

of counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement.'' I also

lost my beloved lectern and could no longer publish essays or

give talks in China. Merely for publishing different

political views and taking part in a peaceful democracy

movement, a teacher lost his lectern, a writer lost his right

to publish, and a public intellectual lost the opportunity to

give talks publicly. This is a tragedy, both for me

personally and for a China that has already seen thirty years

of Reform and Opening Up.

When I think about it, my most dramatic experiences after

June Fourth have been, surprisingly, associated with courts:

My two opportunities to address the public have both been

provided by trial sessions at the Beijing Municipal

Intermediate People's Court, once in January 1991, and again

today. Although the crimes I have been charged with on the

two occasions are different in name, their real substance is

basically the same--both are speech crimes.

Twenty years have passed, but the ghosts of June Fourth

have not yet been laid to rest. Upon release from Qincheng

Prison in 1991, I, who had been led onto the path of

political dissent by the psychological chains of June Fourth,

lost the right to speak publicly in my own country and could

only speak through the foreign media. Because of this, I was

subjected to year-round monitoring, kept under residential

surveillance (May 1995 to January 1996) and sent to

Reeducation-Through-Labor (October 1996 to October 1999). And

now I have been once again shoved into the dock by the enemy

mentality of the regime. But I still want to say to this

regime, which is depriving me of my freedom, that I stand by

the convictions I expressed in my ``June Second Hunger Strike

Declaration'' twenty years ago--I have no enemies and no

hatred. None of the police who monitored, arrested, and

interrogated me, none of the prosecutors who indicted me, and

none of the judges who judged me are my enemies. Although

there is no way I can accept your monitoring, arrests,

indictments, and verdicts, I respect your professions and

your integrity, including those of the two prosecutors, Zhang

Rongge and Pan Xueqing, who are now bringing charges against

me on behalf of the prosecution. During interrogation on

December 3, I could sense your respect and your good faith.

Hatred can rot away at a person's intelligence and

conscience. Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a

nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society's

tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation's

progress toward freedom and democracy. That is why I hope to

be able to transcend my personal experiences as I look upon

our nation's development and social change, to counter the

regime's hostility with utmost good will, and to dispel

hatred with love.

Everyone knows that it was Reform and Opening Up that

brought about our country's development and social change. In

my view, Reform and Opening Up began with the abandonment of

the ``using class struggle as guiding principle'' government

policy of the Mao era and, in its place, a commitment to

economic development and social harmony. The process of

abandoning the ``philosophy of struggle'' was also a process

of gradual weakening of the enemy mentality and elimination

of the psychology of hatred, and a process of squeezing out

the ``wolf's milk'' that had seeped into human nature.\1\ It

was this process that provided a relaxed climate, at home and

abroad, for Reform and Opening Up, gentle and humane grounds

for restoring mutual affection among people and peaceful

coexistence among those with different interests and values,

thereby providing encouragement in keeping with humanity for

the bursting forth of creativity and the restoration of

compassion among our countrymen. One could say that

relinquishing the ``anti-imperialist and anti-revisionist''

stance in foreign relations and ``class struggle'' at home

has been the basic premise that has enabled Reform and

Opening Up to continue to this very day. The market trend in

the economy, the diversification of culture, and the gradual

shift in social order toward the rule of law have all

benefitted from the weakening of the ``enemy mentality.''

Even in the political arena, where progress is slowest, the

weakening of the enemy mentality has led to an ever-growing

tolerance for social pluralism on the part of the regime and

substantial decrease in the force of persecution of political

dissidents, and the official designation of the 1989 Movement

has also been changed from ``turmoil and riot'' to

``political disturbance.'' The weakening of the enemy

mentality has paved the way for the regime to gradually

accept the universality of human rights. In [1997 and] 1998

the Chinese government made a commitment to sign two major

United Nations international human rights covenants,\2\

signaling China's acceptance of universal human rights

standards. In 2004, the National People's Congress (NPC)

amended the Constitution, writing into the Constitution for

the first time that ``the state respects and guarantees human

rights,'' signaling that human rights have already become one

of the fundamental principles of China's rule of law. At the

same time, the current regime puts forth the ideas of

``putting people first'' and ``creating a harmonious

society,'' signaling progress in the CPC's concept of rule.

I have also been able to feel this progress on the macro

level through my own personal experience since my arrest.

Although I continue to maintain that I am innocent and that

the charges against me are unconstitutional, during the one

plus year since I have lost my freedom, I have been locked up

at two different locations and gone through four pretrial

police interrogators, three prosecutors, and two judges,

but in handling my case, they have not been disrespectful,

overstepped time limitations, or tried to force a

confession. Their manner has been moderate and reasonable;

moreover, they have often shown goodwill. On June 23, I

was moved from a location where I was kept under

residential surveillance to the Beijing Municipal Public

Security Bureau's No. 1 Detention Center, known as

``Beikan.'' During my six months at Beikan, I saw

improvements in prison management.

In 1996, I spent time at the old Beikan (located at

Banbuqiao). Compared to the old Beikan of more than a decade

ago, the present Beikan is a huge improvement, both in terms

of the ``hardware''--the facilities--and the ``software''--

the management. In particular, the humane management

pioneered by the new Beikan, based on respect for the rights

and integrity of detainees, has brought flexible management

to bear on every aspect of the behavior of the correctional

staff, and has found expression in the ``comforting

broadcasts,'' Repentance magazine, and music before meals, on

waking and at bedtime. This style of management allows

detainees to experience a sense of dignity and warmth, and

stirs their consciousness in maintaining prison order and

opposing the bullies among inmates. Not only has it provided

a humane living environment for detainees, it has also

greatly improved the environment for their litigation to take

place and their state of mind. I've had close contact with

correctional officer Liu Zheng, who has been in charge of me

in my cell, and his respect and care for detainees could be

seen in every detail of his work, permeating his every word

and deed, and giving one a warm feeling. It was perhaps my

good fortune to have gotten to know this sincere, honest,

conscientious, and kind correctional officer during my time

at Beikan.

It is precisely because of such convictions and personal

experience that I firmly believe that China's political

progress will not stop, and I, filled with optimism, look

forward to the advent of a future free China. For there is no

force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and

China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where

human rights reign supreme. I also hope that this sort of

progress can be reflected in this trial as I await the

impartial ruling of the collegial bench--a ruling that will

withstand the test of history.

If I may be permitted to say so, the most fortunate

experience of these past twenty years has been the selfless

love I have received from my wife, Liu Xia. She could not be

present as an observer in court today, but I still want to

say to you, my dear, that I firmly believe your love for me

will remain the same as it has always been. Throughout all

these years that I have lived without freedom, our love was

full of bitterness imposed by outside circumstances, but as I

savor its aftertaste, it remains boundless. I am serving my

sentence in a tangible prison, while you wait in the

intangible prison of the heart. Your love is the sunlight

that leaps over high walls and penetrates the iron bars of my

prison window, stroking every inch of my skin, warming every

cell of my body, allowing me to always keep peace, openness,

and brightness in my heart, and filling every minute of my

time in prison with meaning. My love for you, on the other

hand, is so full of remorse and regret that it at times makes

me stagger under its weight. I am an insensate stone in the

wilderness, whipped by fierce wind and torrential rain, so

cold that no one dares touch me. But my love is solid and

sharp, capable of piercing through any obstacle. Even if I

were crushed into powder, I would still use my ashes to

embrace you.

My dear, with your love I can calmly face my impending

trial, having no regrets about the choices I've made and

optimistically awaiting tomorrow. I look forward to [the day]

when my country is a land with freedom of expression, where

the speech of every citizen will be treated equally well;

where different values, ideas, beliefs, and political views .

. . can both compete with each other and peacefully coexist;

where both majority and minority views will be equally

guaranteed, and where the political views that differ from

those currently in power, in particular, will be fully

respected and protected; where all political views will

spread out under the sun for people to choose from, where

every citizen can state political views without fear, and

where no one can under any circumstances suffer political

persecution for voicing divergent political views. I hope

that I will be the last victim of China's endless literary

inquisitions and that from now on no one will be incriminated

because of speech.

Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights,

the source of humanity, and the mother of truth. To strangle

freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, stifle

humanity, and suppress truth.

In order to exercise the right to freedom of speech

conferred by the Constitution, one should fulfill the social

responsibility of a Chinese citizen. There is nothing

criminal in anything I have done. [But] if charges are

brought against me because of this, I have no complaints.

Thank you, everyone.

Translator's Notes

1. Writers in China today often refer to indoctrination

with the ideology of class struggle as ``drinking wolf's

milk,'' and the ideology of the Cultural Revolution era as

the ``wolf's milk culture,'' which had turned humans into

wolf-like predatory beasts.

2. China signed the International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1997, and ratified it

in 2001. It signed the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1998, but has not yet ratified

the covenant.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), who is cochair of the Tom Lantos Congressional Human Rights Commission and a great advocate of human rights all over the world, including and especially in China.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. He too has been outspoken on behalf of the dissidents in China.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

First of all, I want to thank our distinguished Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for her very eloquent defense of the human rights defenders in China, especially for Liu Xiaobo. I also wish to thank her for these many decades, in which we have worked side by side, along with Frank Wolf and others, and I thank her for that and for scheduling this resolution to come to the floor today.

I yield 2 minutes to my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).

Madam Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?

I yield the gentleman from Pennsylvania an additional 30 seconds.

I thank my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, just let me close with a statement of Liu Xiaobo himself. Remember, this was stated at his trial in 2009. He said, in pertinent part: I hope that I will be the last victim of China's endless literary inquisitions and that from now on no one will be incriminated because of speech.

He went on to say: Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth. To strangle freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, stifle humanity, and suppress truth.

He went on to say: There is nothing criminal in anything I have done. If charges are brought against me because of this, I have no complaints.

Liu Xiaobo had bogus charges leveled against him, and today he endures 11 years in prison. Today, the Congress stands with the oppressed, all of the oppressed in China, but including and especially Liu Xiaobo.

We stand with him and we stand against the oppressor. We are united Democrats, Republicans, liberals, moderates, and conservatives in saying that human rights matter, and we thank the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for naming this outstanding moral leader one of the greatest moral leaders of our time as the 2011 laureate.

I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding and thank him for giving us this opportunity to talk about Liu Xiaobo on the floor of the House today. I especially want to thank Chris Smith, the gentleman from New Jersey, Frank Wolf, Dana Rohrabacher, three Members whom I heard speak on the subject, and I know many others have, David Wu, who is with us on this side, for their commitment to democratic freedoms in China.

Madam Speaker, Mr. Smith, Mr. Rohrabacher, and Mr. Wolf and I have been working on this issue for decades. Even before Tiananmen Square, many of us met with our former colleague, now gone from us, Tom Lantos, to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I think that was in 1987. A couple years later, we saw what happened in Tiananmen Square. And at that time, as advocates for human rights throughout the world, we were advocating for human rights in China as well. For a long time, we had that debate.

We were joined then by our colleague David Wu and others in this important statement that said, if we are advocating for human rights throughout the world, which this Congress has done over and over again, we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights in the rest of the world if we do not talk about human rights in China, despite the commercial interests we have in China, despite a number of other issues that had been called to our attention. And so the news that the Nobel Committee had awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo came as good news to those of us who had been calling attention to this issue for a very long time.

Congressman Smith was instrumental in nominating Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Prize. He has been a fighter. He and Frank Wolf, how many times did you go to China, visit the prisons and the rest? On this score, Mr. Rohrabacher has been relentless. And so for us, this is a very important occasion, not only that he is receiving the Nobel Prize, but that this Congress is recognizing that prize as well.

The Nobel Prize has been called the most prestigious prize in the world. It is appropriate that in 2010, Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo joins the illustrious group of former recipients.

On Christmas Day 2009, Chinese authorities sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for inciting subversion of state power. It was a harsh sentence that disrespects the rule of law and the freedom of Chinese citizens to express their opinions, which is even guaranteed in the Chinese constitution. Liu Xiaobo is still in prison today, and his wife has been put under house arrest.

Liu Xiaobo was one of the original signers of Charter 08, an online petition calling for new policies to improve human rights and democracy in China. Mr. Liu wrote, ``The most fundamental principles of democracy are that people are sovereign, and that the people select their own government.''

Charter 08 now has over 10,000 signatories, many of whom have been harassed and intimidated by the Chinese authorities. The courageous efforts by the signatories of Charter 08 to express themselves in the face of arrest and detention are truly an inspiration around the world.

One of the things that we have done in the past decades is to make sure that those who have been arrested for expressing their views, whether they be religious or political, are not forgotten. One of the techniques of imprisonment is to tell those who have been arrested that on the outside nobody even remembers you, nobody cares that you are here; they have forgotten you and all that you have done. And, of course, with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize, what greater spotlight could there be placed on freedom of expression in China?

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize for the first time to a Chinese citizen is a momentous occasion for the Tiananmen democracy movement.

Liu Xiaobo was arrested in Tiananmen Square in 1989. At the time, he was on a hunger strike to protest martial law and support peaceful negotiations with Chinese students. He spent many years in Chinese prison camps for only expressing his right to free expression.

The Nobel Peace Prize is not only a testament to Liu Xiaobo, but Chinese dissidents, many, many Chinese dissidents, who have sacrificed so much in pursuant of freedom and democracy in China.

Today, the House of Representatives is congratulating Liu Xiaobo on the Nobel Peace Prize and sending a clear message of support for human rights and democracy in China. We do this in recognition of the importance of the relationship between China and the United States, that we have many issues where we have common ground or where we should seek common ground, but all of that is better served by the candor in our friendship and not ignoring sore spots.

We continue to call for Liu Xiaobo's immediate and unconditional release and for the Chinese Government to listen to the many Chinese citizens who are calling for human rights and freedom in China.

Once again, I thank Congressman Smith for his leadership over the many years and for nominating Liu Xiaobo and helping to bring this resolution to the floor, and I thank Mr. Klein for his leadership as well.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1717) congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this resolution congratulates Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo on being awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize and calls for his immediate release from imprisonment by the Chinese Government.

I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for sponsoring this resolution and bringing it forward to discuss with many of us, as well as the other six Members of Congress who originally nominated Mr. Liu for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr. Liu was a leader during the 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests and one of the drafters last year of Charter 08, a document signed by more than 300 Chinese intellectuals and rights advocates that called for political reform and improvement in China's human rights policies. As a result of his activism, the Chinese Government charged Mr. Liu with the phony offense of ``inciting subversion of state power.'' He was convicted on Christmas day of last year and subsequently sentenced to 11 years in prison, a sentence that has been widely regarded as unusually harsh.

This past October, Mr. Liu became the first Chinese citizen residing in China to win the Nobel Peace Prize and one of three laureates to have received it while in prison. The Nobel Committee awarded the prize to Mr. Liu ``for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.''

Mr. Liu's wife visited him in prison shortly after he learned of winning the prize, and during their visit Mr. Liu reportedly was moved to tears and said that the prize was ``for the lost souls of June 4.''

Mr. Liu remains locked away in a Chinese cell and thus is not able to receive the prize in person. The Chinese Government has also placed his wife under house arrest and is preventing her and Mr. Liu's other family, friends and supporters from leaving China to attend the awards ceremony in Norway.

The Chinese Government has denounced the prize as a ``political tool'' of the West, blocking all media reporting of the news in China and trying to bully foreign governments from sending representatives to the awards ceremony later this week. China's boorish and arrogant behavior over Mr. Liu's award won't produce the global respect and clout that Chinese authorities so desperately crave, and its tactics only underscore China's failure to uphold the very principles to which Mr. Liu has dedicated his life and work and for which he is being recognized by the Nobel committee.

Today, the United States House of Representatives stands in solidarity with Mr. Liu and all those who have risked their lives to promote democratic reform in China. We call on China to immediately release Mr. Liu from prison and to cease its harassment and detention of Mr. Liu's wife and supporters.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu).

Madam Speaker, as we've been discussing, this is a travesty of great magnitude. The Chinese Government has shown over and over again its lack of respect and dignity for human life. And, certainly, for someone who has such great respect in the academic community and worldwide as a leader in the views of nonviolence to be locked up and put away when the rest of the world recognizes the importance of his respect and his leadership in this important endeavor is obviously more than disgusting.

But we have an opportunity, obviously, today to create a resolution and speak on behalf of the United States and our people about what we believe are human rights and the respect that should be given someone who has been given the Nobel Peace Prize.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to acknowledge and thank the Speaker of the House for her leadership in the fight for human rights throughout the world, and I yield 1 minute to the Speaker of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) to close.

I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his very eloquent presentation, and all the speakers today, including the Speaker of the House. This is a statement of the American people, a statement of all of us from whatever background we come, about the importance of human rights and the recognition that all of us fight for human rights, no matter what the situation, politically or otherwise.

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

Mr. Speaker, this morning I was proud to participate in a press conference in honor of Mr. Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize. I was joined by my fellow co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Congressman Frank Wolf, as well as Representatives Joseph Pitts, Chris Smith (NJ), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, David Wu and Robert Aderholt. Representatives from human rights organizations also made statements in support of Mr. Liu, including Sophie Richard with Human Rights Watch; T. Kumar with Amnesty International; Paula Schriefer with Freedom House; Todd Stein with the International Campaign for Tibet; Clothilde de Le Coz with Reporters Without Borders; and Harry Wu, well-known Chinese human rights activist.

I would like to submit the statement that I made this morning in support of Liu Xiaobo's non-violent advocacy on behalf of democratic and human rights in China and his having been awarded this well- deserved honor.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen:

Today I proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with my

colleagues in Congress and so many distinguished human rights

defenders and congratulate Liu Xiaobo on being awarded the

2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

When the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its decision

on October 8th, it renewed its past proud history of awarding

this prestigious award to outstanding individuals and groups

who embody incredible courage and humanity in the face of

severe suppression, to bravely stand up for their fellow

citizens, for truth, democracy and human rights--despite the

likely consequences.

The Nobel Committee in its announcement specifically cited

that it awarded the Peace Prize to Mr. Liu because of ``his

long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in

China.''

When the award ceremony takes place this Friday in Oslo,

Norway, on December 10th, International Human Rights Day, Mr.

Liu will be serving yet another day of the 11-year sentence

he received last December for alleged `subversion of State

power.'

If the Chinese government had to explain what exactly is

the alleged `subversion,' it would of course be hard pressed.

Mr. Liu's entire life has been dedicated to the peaceful

reform of his country, a country that yearns for greater

space for democracy and human rights. That is exactly why

the People's Republic of China does not explain its

blatant abuse of judicial power, or allow judicial review

or meaningful court proceedings in the first place.

Instead, China immediately embarked on a massive

international campaign to pressure the Nobel Committee not to

award the Prize to Mr. Liu as the first Chinese recipient of

the Nobel Peace Prize, and pressed foreign governments not to

attend the ceremonies in Oslo. We remember how China

responded in a similar fashion when His Holiness, the Dalai

Lama, won the award, and when Uyghur human rights and

democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer was nominated for the Peace

Prize.

China's arm reaches far, and the PRC, unfortunately, has

been able to exert pressure on a handful of countries. The

United States, however, must be a beacon of hope. I call on

President Obama--as a Peace Prize recipient

himself--to send a high level delegation to Oslo as a very

clear signal to the world that the U.S. stands full square

for human rights and democracy, and that we stand with Liu

Xiaobo and the Chinese human rights and democracy movement.

China also cracked down harshly on any attempts to

celebrate Mr. Liu's achievements in his country, and has so

far prevented Mr. Liu's wife, Liu Xia, from traveling to

Oslo, as well as most of China's democracy activists and

scholars who were invited by Mr. Liu's family.

The speeches in Oslo will no doubt highlight Mr. Liu's

incredible courage and peaceful convictions. We will hear

about his leadership as a writer, literary critic, professor

and human rights activist; his role during the 1989 pro-

democracy protest in Tiananmen Square, where he negotiated on

behalf of student demonstrators, that he served as President

of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003, and the

prominent leadership role he played in the drafting of one of

the most important Chinese reform documents, Charter 08.

This Friday, Mr. Liu will take his rightful place among

those human rights giants who were also imprisoned when they

were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize--Germany's Carl von

Ossietzky in 1935 and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991.

But what Mr. Liu needs most is not the ornate medal, or

even the cash prize which goes with the award, but our

ongoing commitment to stand with him and the goals and

aspirations he represents. That is our job as law makers,

NGOs, the public, and the international community--today,

tomorrow, in Oslo, and most importantly, beyond December

10th.

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

I want to thank my good friend and distinguished colleague Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey for introducing this important resolution which congratulates Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the award.

Congressman Smith--and I think all the colleagues in this House on both sides should know--is one of the greatest human rights advocates in the Congress, and his leadership on this issue and on human rights and religious freedom is really, I think, one of the finest that I have ever served with since I have been here in Congress. I also want to say parenthetically, why hasn't the Church in the West and in the United States also spoken out on some of these more profound issues of human rights and religious freedoms? The silence of the Church in the West is quite disturbing.

On Friday, the award ceremony will be held with an empty chair, as my colleague Mr. Wu said, as a solemn reminder that this year's Nobel laureate remains languishing in prison. Chinese authorities have placed his wife under house arrest to ensure that she will not be able to accept the prize on his behalf.

Since 1901, only three other Nobel Prize winners have been prevented from attending the ceremony to accept the prize. In 1935, Carl von Ossietzy, a German peace activist, was prevented from receiving the prize by the Nazi government. In 1975, Andrei Sakharov, a Russian nuclear scientist, was barred from leaving the Soviet Union to accept the prize. And in 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's democracy movement, was not allowed to leave the country by the brutal ruling military junta.

China should be ashamed and embarrassed to be in the company of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Burma. Instead, the Chinese Government has launched a diplomatic campaign to encourage other nations to boycott Friday's ceremony. In a public statement, China's vice foreign minister threatened that ``if they make the wrong choice, they have to bear the consequences.'' The 18 countries that have sided with China and will not attend Friday's ceremonies are Afghanistan, Colombia, Egypt, Russia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sudan--the genocide Government of Sudan--Tunisia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

And when their lobbyists come up here next year begging for help, remember, they were not willing to go to Oslo even to stand up for human rights. Here we are giving the Moroccan Government $697 million in the Millennium Challenge grant, and they won't even go to Oslo. These countries, which are among the world's worst human rights abusers, will join China in its shameful boycott.

This year's Nobel Prize winner is representative not just of Dr. Liu, but of the thousands of Chinese prisoners that remain languishing in prisons and labor camps due to their political and religious beliefs. Chinese authorities continue to crack down on the Protestant house church Christians, Catholics, Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uyghurs, and members of the Falun Gong.

In passing this resolution, the U.S. Congress sends an important message to the dissidents of China and all those who are being persecuted around the world. The people of the United States stand with those who sit in their jail cells day after day, week after week, year after year in their quest for freedom.

Robert F. Kennedy once said: ``Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope'' and ``those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.''

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Dr. Liu has sent out that ripple of hope that cannot be stopped. And I believe that in my lifetime--and remember, the Berlin Wall fell like that--in my lifetime, the Chinese people will know the true freedom, and I will look forward to celebrating that day.

I thank Mr. Smith again for his leadership on this and so many other issues.