Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the International Olympic Committee should rebid the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to be hosted by a country that recognizes and respects human rights.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 963 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the International Olympic Committee should rebid the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to be hosted by a country that recognizes and respects human rights. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. YOHO (for himself, Mr. BERA, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. PERRY, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. GUEST, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. GALLAGHER, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. BANKS, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. SPANO, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. BABIN, and Mr. WALKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the International Olympic Committee should rebid the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to be hosted by a country that recognizes and respects human rights. Whereas the International Olympic Committee has announced Beijing, People’s Republic of China, as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games; Whereas the Olympic charter states that the goal of Olympism is to promote ‘‘a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 963 IH Whereas the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report of the De- partment of State relating to the People’s Republic of China indicates that— (1) authorities in the People’s Republic of China have arbitrarily detained more than 1,000,000 ethnic Muslims, including Uyghur, ethnic Kazakh, and Kyrgyz individuals, in as many as 1,200 ‘‘vocational training cen- ters’’, which are internment camps designed to erase eth- nic and religious identities; (2) the national household registry system of the People’s Republic of China restricts the freedom of rural inhabitants to legally change their workplace or resi- dence, placing the internal migrant population of the People’s Republic of China at high risk of forced labor in brick kilns, coal mines, and factories; (3) the Government of the People’s Republic of China subjects Christians and members of other religious groups to forced labor in brick kilns, food processing cen- ters, and factories as part of detention for the purpose of ideological indoctrination; and (4) the Government of the People’s Republic of China provides financial incentives for companies to open factories near the internment camps, and local govern- ments receive additional funds from the Government of the People’s Republic of China for each inmate forced to work in an internment camp; Whereas, in October 2019, Radio Free Asia reported that— (1) the Government of the People’s Republic of China, as part of its Pair Up and Become Family pro- gram, assigns male Han Chinese ‘‘relatives’’ to monitor the homes of Uyghur families in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and to regularly sleep in VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 963 IH the same beds as the wives of men detained in the intern- ment camps of the region; and (2) Uyghur individuals who protest hosting ‘‘rel- atives’’ or refuse to take part in study sessions or other activities with the officials in their homes are subject to additional restrictions and may face detention in the in- ternment camps; Whereas, in July 2019, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom jointly condemned the arbitrary detention and surveillance of Uyghur indi- viduals and other minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Au- tonomous Region; Whereas, in June 2019, the Independent Tribunal Into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China of the China Tribunal found that— (1) forced organ harvesting has been carried out for years throughout the People’s Republic of China on a sig- nificant scale, and practitioners of Falun Gong have been the main source of organs; and (2) the Government of the People’s Republic of China has committed crimes against humanity with re- spect to Uyghur individuals and practitioners of Falun Gong; Whereas the report of Freedom House entitled ‘‘Freedom in the World 2019’’ indicates that— (1) women, ethnic and religious minorities, and the LGBT community in the People’s Republic of China have no opportunity to gain meaningful political representation VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 963 IH and are barred from advancing their interests outside the formal structures of the Communist Party of China; (2) foreign journalists in the People’s Republic of China were surveilled, harassed, physically abused, de- tained to prevent meetings with certain individuals, and had their visas withheld; (3) hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners have re- cently received long prison terms, and many other indi- viduals were arbitrarily detained in various ‘‘legal edu- cation’’ facilities, where they were tortured, sometimes fa- tally, until they abandoned their beliefs; (4) limitations on due process in the People’s Re- public of China, including the excessive use of pretrial de- tention, are rampant, and an extended crackdown on human rights lawyers has weakened the access of defend- ants to independent legal counsel; and (5) individuals attempting to petition the Govern- ment of the People’s Republic of China with respect to grievances or injustices are routinely intercepted in their efforts to travel to Beijing, forcefully returned to their hometowns, or subjected to extralegal detention in ‘‘black jails’’, psychiatric institutions, and other sites at which they are at risk of abuse; Whereas the annual report of the United States Congres- sional-Executive Commission on China for 2019 indicates that— (1) the one-party authoritarian political system of the People’s Republic of China deprives the people of the People’s Republic of China of their right to meaningfully participate in electoral processes and public life generally; (2) in 2019, the Government of the People’s Repub- lic of China detained and prosecuted individuals who criticized government officials and policies online and VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 963 IH censored or distorted a range of news and information that the Government of the People’s Republic of China considered ‘‘politically sensitive’’, including— (A) the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre; (B) human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and (C) the protests in Hong Kong against pro- posed extradition legislation; (3) Hong Kong authorities, under the influence of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, vio- lated fundamental freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, as articulated in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Spe- cial Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Basic Law’’), including the freedoms of expression, association, and as- sembly; (4) the Government of the People’s Republic of China has used propaganda, disinformation, and censor- ship in an attempt to shape reporting on the Hong Kong protests, attributing the protests to influence by ‘‘foreign forces’’, and threatening protesters in Hong Kong; (5) officials of the Government of the People’s Re- public of China and the Communist Party of China con- tinue to abuse criminal law and police power to punish critics and ‘‘maintain stability’’ with the goal of perpet- uating one-party rule, often targeting human rights advo- cates, religious believers, and ethnic minority groups; and (6) the Government of the People’s Republic of China is likely committing crimes against humanity; Whereas before the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Bei- jing, the Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 reported that the Gov- VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 963 IH ernment of the People’s Republic of China practiced se- vere cultural and religious repression of minorities, espe- cially of Uyghur individuals in the Xinjiang Uyghur Au- tonomous Region, and according to the Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, such repression has intensified since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; Whereas four Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations have urged the governing authorities in Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China to ensure protestors in Hong Kong may fully exercise the right to peacefully as- semble, including— (1) the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expres- sion; (2) the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; (3) the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; and (4) the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; Whereas police in Hong Kong have arrested more than 6,000 individuals and fired more than 16,000 rounds of tear gas during the 7 months of protests by people of Hong Kong seeking to uphold their liberties and the autonomy of Hong Kong, as articulated in the Basic Law; Whereas the report of the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders entitled ‘‘Defending Rights in a ‘No Rights Zone’: Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2018)’’ indicates that— (1) authorities in the People’s Republic of China continue to charge Tibetans with ‘‘inciting separatism’’ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HRES 963 IH for expressing political or religious dissent and impose heavy prison sentences on such individuals; (2) the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to implement its draconian 2017 cyber- security law, which authorizes invasive cyber surveillance and provides broad authority to restrict and penalize on- line expression; (3) the Government of the People’s Republic of China intended to have ‘‘full coverage, connectivity, and control’’ of the entire People’s Republic of China by po- lice video surveillance by 2020; and (4) the Government of the People’s Republic of China boldly retaliates against human rights advocates for their work upholding international standards and co- operating with the United Nations human rights mecha- nisms; Whereas, in January 2020, the editorial board of the Wash- ington Post questioned whether the People’s Republic of China should ‘‘be allowed to host the 2022 Winter Olym- pics in one city while running concentration camps in an- other’’; and Whereas the flagrant human rights abuses committed by the Government of the People’s Republic of China are incon- sistent with Olympic values: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That— 1 (1) the House of Representatives support the 2 values of Olympism and the principles of Team USA 3 with respect to the protection of— 4 (A) the rights, safety, and well-being of 5 athletes; and 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HRES 963 IH (B) the integrity of sport; and 1 (2) it is the sense of the House of Representa- 2 tives that, consistent with the principles of the Inter- 3 national Olympic Committee, unless the Government 4 of the People’s Republic of China demonstrates sig- 5 nificant progress in securing fundamental human 6 rights, including the freedoms of religion, speech, 7 movement, association, and assembly, by January 1, 8 2021, the International Olympic Committee should 9 rebid the 2022 Winter Olympics to be hosted by a 10 country that recognizes and respects human rights. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:09 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR963.IH HR963 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS