Commemorating the 78th birthday of Jimmy Lai on December 8, 2025, as "Jimmy Lai Day", for his role in advocating for free press, religious freedom, and democracy in Hong Kong, and calling on the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong authorities to release Jimmy Lai and all other Hong Kong prodemocracy advocates from prison.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1259) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai detained by the People's Republic of China during future engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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 this measure.

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

Madam Speaker, I, like many in the House and the Senate, want to thank President Trump for requesting on numerous occasions that Xi Jinping release Jimmy Lai and other women and men who are gravely sick and unjustly incarcerated.

It is not largely known, but hundreds of innocent Americans languish in Chinese prisons today, including Nelson Wells of New Orleans and Dawn Michelle Hunt from Chicago. At a hearing that I chaired in September of 2024, Bringing Home Americans Detained in China, we heard heartbreaking stories from their families and their loved ones.

According to the Foley Foundation, more United States nationals are wrongfully detained in China than in any other country. I have introduced legislation to create a comprehensive strategy to try to obtain their release.

H. Res. 1259 speaks to this issue of unjustly detained individuals. It is about Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of the Zion Church, detained and denied needed medical care. It is about Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu, detained for peaceful religious leadership. It is about Gulshan Abbas, serving a 20-year sentence because her sister, Rushan Abbas, dared to tell Congress the truth about the CCP's genocide against the Uyghurs. I alone, and she has testified before other committees, have had Rushan Abbas testify three different times. She is eloquent. She is nonviolent and just wants her sister returned home to be safe.

The CCP has imprisoned one sister in this case in order to silence another, and that is hostage taking plain and simple.

Of course, this resolution is about Jimmy Lai, the courageous founder of Apple Daily imprisoned because he defended freedom of the press, democracy, and the rule of law in Hong Kong.

His son, Sebastien Lai, testified in 2023 at a hearing that I chaired of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. When he was done I said: You know, you are a chip off the old block. You are so persuasive and so full of goodness just like your father.

He did tell us that his father was refusing to be silenced and still speaking truth to power and that he may die in prison. That testimony, Madam Speaker, should haunt us and move us to action.

I would remind my colleagues that some years ago, working with Speaker

Pelosi, we were able to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Unfortunately, it has only gotten worse since then. Yes, sanctions have been meted out, but unfortunately, Xi Jinping has incarcerated the best, the bravest, and the brightest in all of China.

Jimmy Lai should not spend one more night in a Hong Kong prison. He is a man of total nonviolence. He used the power of the pen to try to persuade and to admonish.

Like Sebastien, Jimmy Lai's daughter, Claire, has bravely, tenaciously, and prayerfully advocated for her father's release. Claire told the Associated Press last December that her dad just wants to reunite with his family. He wants to dedicate his life, what is left of it, to serving our Lord, and he wants to dedicate the rest of his days to his family.

Claire has met with many, many House and Senate Members. She sat right up there during the State of the Union Address. She has met with Members. I was with her for much of that time. She was with the Speaker, and she was just so gracious. She exudes compassion, and she radiates kindness. All that she and Sebastien are asking for is that their father be released. We know President Trump is going to raise that face-to-face with Xi Jinping.

I would remind my colleagues that I have been in this body for 46 years and have worked on the release of political prisoners all over the world starting in the Soviet Union. We have always found out that when the United States names prisoners, it works. Reagan did it all the time. Secretary of State Shultz said specific names, and many of those people were released when they were advocated for.

It can also help secure access to lawyers, family, and medical care, and it can save lives. Again, it can lead to releases.

I note, parenthetically, because I work on Belarus all the time, about 500 prisoners have been released due to the advocacy and intervention of the President. That is amazing. It does work, and he is trying to do it now as he heads over to China.

It matters. It matters to their families. It matters to every prisoner languishing in a cell because he or she dare to pray, publish, speak, worship, or advocate for fundamental human rights and freedoms.

It matters to the Chinese Communist Party because autocrats listen when the President of the United States names names.

Silence is not an option. Silence tells the jailer no one is watching. Silence tells the prisoner the world has moved on, turned the page. Silence tells Beijing that hostage diplomacy, coercive exit bans, and transnational repression can be normalized.

It can't be normalized. We will not be silent, and we pray and hope that the President is successful.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friends on the other side of the aisle. I thank Mr. Olszewksi for his kind words on behalf of this important resolution and Speaker Pelosi and Tom Suozzi. We worked together very, very closely on the Uyghurs, and I thank him for his strong statement, and of course, Young Kim, as eloquent as she always is.

There is a great deal of support for Jimmy Lai.

As we all know, he is 78. He got a 20-year prison sentence on top of the 5 he has already served. It is a death sentence. He is not well. He has a number of maladies that are affecting his health. We know, and the Speaker will remember, when Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, when he was gravely sick, the Chinese Communist Party would not even let him get the medical attention that he required. We don't want a deja vu on that ever.

He needs to be released to his family so he can get the very necessary healthcare and to, in these final years, enjoy his amazing family and to be celebrated, frankly, for the great man that he is.

Senator Rick Scott and I did a letter last week which kind of summed it all up. One hundred of our colleagues signed on to it.

In part it said:

The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai's freedom is urgent and

undeniable. He is a devout Catholic and successful

entrepreneur who has already spent 5 years in detention, much

of it in solitary confinement. His health has declined in

custody, and prolonged isolation and inadequate prison

conditions only increase the risk of permanent harm.

Mr. President, we greatly appreciated that you have

discussed the case of Jimmy Lai with Xi Jinping before. We

know you have pledged to do it again.

We are hoping that the appeal will be heard by Xi Jinping himself: Search deep in your heart.

Why continue to repress this absolutely amazing man who should be getting the Nobel Peace Prize, not a prison sentence?

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to finally get this done, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1259, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Ezra Jin; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; as well as Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lai, all of whom, Madam Speaker, have been detained by the People's Republic of China. We encourage him to take this approach during his upcoming talks with President Xi Jinping.

I also thank my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his longstanding leadership on this important issue.

President Trump's trip, Madam Speaker, is an opportunity for him to confront Beijing not only on economic issues but also on its deeply troubling human rights record, including its suppression of free speech and its ongoing persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.

Whether it is prodemocracy advocates in Hong Kong, Uyghurs, or members of the Christian Zion Church, Beijing has imprisoned far too many individuals simply for practicing their faith or exercising their fundamental right of free speech.

Across China, underground churches are raided; pastors, like Pastor Jin, are surveilled; congregations are harassed; and believers are detained simply for worshipping outside state control.

Pastor Jin's wife, despite having no direct role in the church, has also been arrested without cause and denied access to all necessary medical care.

Uyghurs, like Dr. Abbas, face mass internment, forced labor, and egregious human rights abuses that our own government has declared a genocide.

Journalists, like Jimmy Lai, who have shown fearless activism and extraordinary courage in defense of a free press, are imprisoned for speaking the truth, including reporting on Beijing's democracy crackdown in Hong Kong.

Mr. Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison. This is the most excessive sentence that China has ever given for this so-called offense. Yet, unlike prior U.S. administrations that recognize the clear link between human rights and our own security and prosperity, the Trump administration has not meaningfully engaged on China's troubling human rights abuses and too often has failed to forcefully raise these issues in high-level bilateral engagements with Beijing. That must change.

I call on President Trump to reverse this trend and to make securing the release of all the individuals named a central objective in his upcoming meeting with President Xi.

This resolution reflects a strong bipartisan consensus in Congress on the importance of securing the release of these brave individuals.

President Xi is hoping the war in Iran and our trade objectives with Beijing will distract our focus away from China's human rights abuses, but we need to be clear that the U.S. cannot take the pressure off of Beijing on these critical issues. China cannot be allowed to continue its repression of religious communities, ethnic minorities, Hong Kongers, or the press with impunity.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker Emerita.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi), who is the co-chair of the Uyghur Caucus.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.

Madam Speaker, there is broad, bipartisan consensus as we heard today in this body that the U.S. must, once again, apply pressure and use leverage to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, journalists, and Hong Kongers, and force it to release those whom they have been wrongfully imprisoned.

This week is an opportunity for President Trump to press President Xi on these issues during their summit.

This resolution calls on President Trump to make central in his negotiations the release of Pastor Jin; Pastor Gao Quanfu, and his wife, Pang Yu; Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lei.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 1259, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, Mr. Olszewski-- Johnny O. as we call him--for his leadership and his beautiful statement on what we are challenged with right now and how this legislation addresses that.

I always want to praise Mr. Smith for his leadership on human rights throughout the world. We have been working on these things for 30 years probably--he is not paying attention--but 30 years with Frank Wolf going and visiting people in prison and trying to make sure people knew.

They say that these autocrats--the President of China for one--the most horrible form of torture that they can put on a prisoner is to tell them nobody even remembers them or cares about them or even knows why they are in prison. That is why I thank you both for bringing this legislation to the floor so that we on the floor of the House of Representatives can make sure that they know they are not forgotten.

I rise today in strong support of this resolution calling on the President to prioritize the release of these courageous individuals who have been unjustly detained by the government of the People's Republic of China simply for exercising their fundamental human rights.

Jimmy Lai sits in prison because he dared to defend democracy and a free press in Hong Kong. Mr. Smith talked about Jimmy and his son, Sebastien, and his daughter, Claire. Now they have a grandbaby in the family, and Jimmy, of course, is not able to see the baby while they torture him in prison.

Then Dr. Gulshan Abbas has disappeared because of Beijing's repression of Uyghurs. She is there because of what her sister has testified to us, Mr. Smith mentioned, and that is engaging in transnational human rights suppression.

In addition to that, Christian pastors and their families are persecuted simply for worshiping freely.

Jin Mingri, we heard about him; Pastors Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, we have heard about them. Pastor Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, and Dr. Abbas--I talked about Dr. Gulshan Abbas.

I want to just say that this has always been bipartisan and bicameral, House and Senate. Democrats and Republicans always come together on these pieces of legislation. I want to call special attention to what our Speaker Johnson did a few months ago. He was invited to address the House of Commons in this our bicentennial year of our country. I asked him if he would mention Jimmy Lai in his speech, and he did. He told me it got a good response. We thank the Speaker for making that appeal to the House of Commons.

Here, this resolution makes sure that human rights cannot be separated from America's engagement with China. The release of these individuals must remain a priority at the highest level of diplomacy. While the President is on his visit there, he is bringing with him a long list of business leaders. I have to say if we do not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights anywhere in the world.

With this resolution, the House reaffirms that America will continue to stand for freedom, human rights, and the principles that no person should be imprisoned simply for what they believe. Let's make this a strong, as always, bipartisan vote. I thank the chairman, Mr. Smith. I thank Johnny O, and I urge a strong bipartisan vote in support of the resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my friend Chris Smith's resolution to encourage our President while in China to push for the release of political prisoners of the Chinese Communist Party.

First is Dr. Gulshan Abbas. Dr. Gulshan is a minority Muslim in the Xinjiang region of China, a Uyghur who has been imprisoned for 8 years for the crime of being a practicing Muslim and as retribution for her sister's human rights advocacy. Even before I started the Congressional Uyghur Caucus in 2021, I have been fighting alongside Gulshan's U.S. citizen sister, Rushan Abbas, and U.S. citizen daughter, Ziba, and other family members to free this innocent woman.

Second, Pastor Jin Mingri, a man of tremendous faith, who was imprisoned for the crime of leading a powerful Christian movement in Beijing. He and other Christian leaders in China are the victims of the Chinese Communist Party's war on faith.

In anticipation of the summit, we cosponsored a bipartisan and bicameral letter with over 30 Members of the House and Senate calling for the release of Pastor Jin and other leaders of his church. Pastor Jin's U.S. citizen daughter, Grace, has been an inspiration, as have been the messages coming from Pastor Jin.

Jimmy Lai is a remarkable man imprisoned for the crime of journalism. I met Jimmy Lai here in our Nation's Capital in 2019 as he fought against the corruption and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party. As he fought with peaceful protest in favor of democracy in the face of brutal repression in Hong Kong, he wanted me to encourage student protesters in Hong Kong to remain peaceful and practice nonviolence. Instead of me advocating for the students to remain peaceful in their protest, I enlisted the help of one of America's great civil rights icons, John Lewis.

Congressman Lewis joined me in a video message that was viewed by millions of people throughout the world. John Lewis reminded us all to practice ``peace, love, and nonviolence to change things.'' He told us to respect the dignity and worth of every human being.

Now Jimmy Lai, 78 years old and in failing health, has been wrongfully imprisoned since 2020 and is sentenced to 20 years more. His daughter, Claire, and son, Sebastien, have done heroic work to have their ailing father released.

Now we need the Chinese Communist Party to heed the message of John Lewis and so many others to respect the dignity and worth of every human being and release Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Pastor Jin Mingri, Jimmy Lai, and every other person who has been wrongfully imprisoned and to change the dynamic between our two countries. This resolution encourages our President to make this release a priority on this trip.

We urge the Chinese Communist Party to stop defending the indefensible and enhance China's standing in the world by working with President Trump to finally get this done.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith for yielding.

I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1259. This resolution sends a very clear message: The United States will not be silent while the Chinese Communist Party continues to detain, torture, and disappear innocent people, including family members of American citizens.

These individuals are not criminals. They are pastors, doctors, publishers, and brave voices who have been targeted simply because they threaten the CCP's fabricated narrative and grip on power.

Under the CCP's rule, there has been ample evidence of modern-day concentration camps in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities face genocide because of their language, culture, and beliefs.

In Hong Kong, the National Security Law and Article 23 have crushed basic freedoms. Jimmy Lai, the courageous founder of Apple Daily, has now spent over 5 years imprisoned. In February of this year, he was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison, which is essentially a life sentence. At 78 years old, his health is deteriorating, and his case is a symbol of Beijing's assault on the rule of law and basic human rights.

The CCP's unrelenting persecution campaign and coercion do not stop at Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Around the world, Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, and prodemocracy voices are under threat.

As President Trump prepares to engage directly with Xi Jinping this week, we urge for the prioritization of the immediate and unconditional release of Pastor Jin Mingri; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; Dr. Gulshan Abbas; Jimmy Lai; and all others justly detained.

Several of these individuals have family members who are U.S. citizens. Their loved ones here at home deserve answers and action.

I commend President Trump for always putting America first and demonstrating strength and resolve on the world stage.

We reject the CCP's reign of terror. We stand with every freedom- loving people in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and across China who dreams of a day when faith is not a crime and truth is not censored.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and

I urge the administration to make the release of these individuals a priority in engaging with Beijing.