Home > 105th Congressional Bills > H.R. 968 (eh) To amend title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to permit a waiver of the prohibition of offering nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs in certain nursing facilities. ...H.R. 968 (eh) To amend title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to permit a waiver of the prohibition of offering nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs in certain nursing facilities. ...
Union Calendar No. 181
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 967
[Report No. 105-309, Part I]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for the
participation of certain Chinese officials in international
conferences, programs, and activities and to provide that certain
Chinese officials shall be ineligible to receive visas and excluded
from admission to the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 7, 1997
Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of
the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
Union Calendar No. 181
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 967
[Report No. 105-309, Part I]
To prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for the
participation of certain Chinese officials in international
conferences, programs, and activities and to provide that certain
Chinese officials shall be ineligible to receive visas and excluded
from admission to the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 6, 1997
Mr. Gilman (for himself, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Cox of California,
Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr.
Payne, and Mr. Lantos) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition
to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
October 6, 1997
Reported from the Committee on International Relations with amendments
October 6, 1997
Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended October 6, 1997,
for a period ending not later than October 7, 1997
October 7, 1997
Additional sponsors: Mr. Wolf, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Lipinski, Mr.
Horn, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Bunning,
Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Bob Schaffer of Colorado, Mr. Frank of
Massachusetts, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Barr of
Georgia, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Stark, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Porter, Mr.
Diaz-Balart, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. McIntosh, Mr.
Spence, Mr. Royce, Mr. Hunter, and Mr. Shadegg
October 7, 1997
Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of
the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for the
participation of certain Chinese officials in international
conferences, programs, and activities and to provide that certain
Chinese officials shall be ineligible to receive visas and excluded
from admission to the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. FINDINGS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> The Congress makes the following findings:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Despite public assurances by the Government of
the People's Republic of China that it would abide by the
principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
despite the United Nations Charter requirement that all members
promote respect for and observance of basic human rights,
including freedom of religion, the Chinese Government continues
to place severe restrictions on religious expression and
practice.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) It has been reported that at an internal
Central Communist Party meeting in 1994, President Jiang Zemin
asserted that religion is one of the biggest threats to
Communist Party rule in China and Tibet.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Peng signed
decrees number 144 and 145 which restrict worship, religious
education, distribution of Bibles and other religious
literature, and contact with foreign coreligionists.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) The Chinese Government has created official
religious organizations that control all religious worship,
activity, and association in China and Tibet and supplant the
independent authority of the Roman Catholic Church, independent
Protestant churches, and independent Buddhist, Taoist, and
Islamic associations.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) In July 1995, Ye Xiaowen, a rigid communist
hostile to religion, was appointed to head the Bureau of
Religious Affairs, a Chinese Government agency controlled by
the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist
Party. The Bureau of Religious Affairs has administrative
control over all religious worship and activity in China and
Tibet through a system of granting or denying rights through an
official registration system. Those who fail to or are not
allowed to register are subject to punitive measures.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) In the past year, the Chinese Government has
expressed great concern over the spread of Christianity and
particularly over the rapid growth of Christian religious
institutions other than those controlled by the Chinese
Government, including the Roman Catholic Church and the
evangelical Christian ``house churches''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) Soon after the establishment of the People's
Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government imprisoned
Christians who refused to relinquish their faith to become servants of
communism, charging them as ``counter-revolutionaries'' and sentencing
them to 20 years or more in ``reeducation through labor
camps''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and Catholics
are among those now imprisoned, detained, or continuously
harassed because of their religious beliefs or
activities.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) The prisons and labor camps which hold these
religious prisoners are run by the Ministry of Public Security
and the Ministry of Justice of the Chinese
Government.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) Although some negotiations have taken place,
the Chinese Government refuses to permit the appointment by the
Vatican of Catholic bishops and the ordination of priests not
approved by the Government and insists on appointing its own
``Catholic bishops''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January 1989
at Tashilhunpo Monastery, his traditional spiritual seat in
Shigatze, Tibet's second largest city.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (12) It has always been the right and the role of
the Dalai Lama to recognize the successor to the Panchen Lama.
On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced
recognition of a six-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the
Eleventh Panchen Lama, according to Tibetan
tradition.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai Lama
and his family have been brought to Beijing by Chinese
authorities and have not been seen for months. The Chinese
authorities announced publicly in June 1996 that they are
holding Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (14) Chadrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashilhunpo
Monastery and head of the original search committee for the
Eleventh Panchen Lama, and his assistant, Champa Chung, are
believed to have been seized and detained by Chinese
authorities in May of 1995.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (15) Chinese Government authorities subsequently
detained other Tibetan Buddhists in connection with the
selection of the Eleventh Panchen Lama, including Gyatrol
Rimposhe, Shepa Kelsang, Lhakpa Tsering, and Ringkar
Ngawang.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (16) The Chinese Government convened a conference
in Beijing where Tibetan monks were coerced to select a rival
candidate to the child recognized by the Dalai Lama as the
Eleventh Panchen Lama.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (17) On November 29, 1995, officials of the
Chinese Government orchestrated an elaborate ceremony
designating a six-year-old boy selected by the Chinese
Government as the Eleventh Panchen Lama and on December 8,
1995, a Government-sponsored ceremony was held in Shigatze,
Tibet, where the boy selected by the Government was enthroned
as the Eleventh Panchen Lama.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (18) By seeking to impose its own candidate as the
Eleventh Panchen Lama and detaining the six-year-old boy
recognized for that position in accordance with Tibetan
tradition, the Chinese Government is infringing on a purely
Tibetan religious matter, in blatant violation of the
fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people.</DELETED>
SEC. 2.</DELETED> SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the sense of the Congress that the President should make
freedom of religion one of the major objectives of United States
foreign policy with respect to China. As part of this policy, the
Department of State should raise in every relevant bilateral and
multilateral forum the issue of individuals imprisoned, detained,
confined, or otherwise harassed by the Chinese Government on religious
grounds. In its communications with the Chinese Government, the
Department of State should provide specific names of individuals of
concern and request a complete and timely response from the Chinese
Government regarding the individuals' whereabouts and condition, the
charges against them, and sentence imposed. The goal of these official
communications should be the expeditious release of all religious
prisoners in China and Tibet and the end of the Chinese Government's
policy and practice of harassing and repressing religious believers.
<DELETED>SEC. 3.</DELETED> SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR THE
PARTICIPATION OF CERTAIN CHINESE OFFICIALS IN
CONFERENCES, EXCHANGES, PROGRAMS, AND ACTIVITIES.
(a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for
fiscal years after fiscal year 1997, no funds appropriated or otherwise
made available for the Department of State, the United States
Information Agency, and the United States Agency for International
Development may be used for the purpose of providing travel expenses
and per diem for the participation of nationals of the People's
Republic of China described in paragraphs (1) and (2) in conferences,
exchanges, programs, and activities:
(1) The head or political secretary of any of the following
Chinese Government-created or approved organizations:
(A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.
(B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
(C) The National Congress of Catholic
Representatives.
(D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference.
(E) The Chinese Protestant ``Three Self'' Patriotic
Movement.
(F) The China Christian Council.
(G) The Chinese Taoist Association.
(H) The Chinese Islamic Association.
(2) Any military or civilian official or employee of the
Government of the People's Republic of China who <DELETED>is
directly involved in</DELETED> carried out or directed the
carrying out of any of the following policies or practices
<DELETED>or who was responsible for the supervision of persons
directly involved in such policies or practices</DELETED>:
(A) Formulating, drafting, or implementing
repressive religious policies.
(B) Imprisoning, detaining, or harassing
individuals on religious grounds.
(C) Promoting or participating in policies or
practices which hinder religious activities or the free
expression of religious beliefs.
(b) Certification.--
(1) Each Federal agency subject to the prohibition of
subsection (a) shall certify in writing to the appropriate
congressional committees no later than 120 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, that it
did not pay, either directly or through a contractor or
grantee, for travel expenses or per diem of any national of the
People's Republic of China described in subsection (a).
(2) Each certification under paragraph (1) shall be
supported by the following information:
(A) The name of each employee of any agency of the
Government of the People's Republic of China whose
travel expenses or per diem were paid by funds of the
reporting agency of the United States Government.
(B) The procedures employed by the reporting agency
of the United States Government to ascertain whether
each individual under subparagraph (A) did or did not
participate in activities described in subsection
(a)(2).
(C) The reporting agency's basis for concluding
that each individual under subparagraph (A) did not
participate in such activities.
(c) Definition of Appropriate Congressional Committees.--For
purposes of this section the term ``appropriate congressional
committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives.
SEC. <DELETED>4.</DELETED> SEC. 3. CERTAIN OFFICIALS OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS AND
EXCLUDED FROM ADMISSION.
<DELETED> Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any national
of the People's Republic of China described in paragraphs (1) or (2) of
section 3(a) shall be ineligible to receive visas and shall be excluded
from admission into the United States.</DELETED>
(a) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
national of the People's Republic of China described in section 2(a)(2)
(except the head of state, the head of government, and cabinet level
ministers) shall be ineligible to receive visas and shall be excluded
Other Popular 105th Congressional Bills Documents:
|
| GovRecords.org presents information on various agencies of the United States Government. Even though all information is believed to be credible and accurate, no guarantees are made on the complete accuracy of our government records archive. Care should be taken to verify the information presented by responsible parties. Please see our reference page for congressional, presidential, and judicial branch contact information. GovRecords.org values visitor privacy. Please see the privacy page for more information. |
 |