Gloria Gao, Ceci Wu
Lawrenceville
We would like to bring your attention to this important news.
H.Res 343, an item of legislation that expresses concern by the House of Representatives on “persistent and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China” was passed unanimously in the evening of June 13, with impassioned speeches on the floor by members of Congress.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who introduced the resolution, said it “This legislation is an important step in bringing accountability and transparency, to maybe one of the great crimes of the 21st century: the 17-year effort to eliminate [the] Falun Gong practice from China.”
With H.Res 343, the U.S. Congress joins the European Parliament, the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and other global bodies, who have highlighted the evidence of organ harvesting from Falun Gong and demanded that China come clean on its organ sourcing practices.
We want to thank our representative, Ms. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who cosponsored this monumental resolution together with eight other New Jersey representatives: Scott Garrett, Donald Norcross, Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne Jr., Leonard Lance, Albio Sires and Chris Smith (total of 185 cosponsors, nine out of New Jersey).
“Commitment to human rights to people around the world is the fundamental American value and pillar of our foreign policy. So when we hear reports of horrific abuses such as state sanctioned organ harvesting, we have a responsibility to determine the scope of the problem and respond,” said Rep. Eliot Engle, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
On June 22, David Kilgour, Ethan Gutmann and David Matas published an updated report on organ harvesting in China. The report, “Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter — An Update,” reflects a comprehensive analysis of the transplant market in China and comes to the conclusion that the “organ transplantation volume in China is far larger than official Chinese government statistics indicate.”
More needs to be done, but first we want to bring the attention to the public regarding this, calling the conscience of the world, and make our medical and pharmaceutical community aware of the gruesome practice, so we, the people, do not accidentally become accomplices.
Gloria Gao
Ceci Wu
Lawrenceville
