The US House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill to punish China for its forced organ harvesting from prisoners, which would sanction anyone involved in the act and require annual government reporting on such activities taking place in foreign countries.
H.R. 1154, dubbed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023, was supported by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) along with more than a dozen other lawmakers leading the bill's companion legislation introduced in the Senate.
"There is growing evidence that the Chinese Communist Party has and continues to harvest organs from persecuted religious groups, prisoners of conscience, and inmates," said Sen. Tom Cotton, who introduced the bill in the Senate. "This bill will identify and punish CCP members involved in forced organ harvesting. It’s past time to hold Beijing accountable for these heinous acts."
"It’s got real teeth. We’re not kidding," Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) told the Epoch Times. "This is an atrocity, this is a crime against humanity, and it’s a war crime, because this is a war on innocent people in China, and [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping is directly responsible, but those who willingly engage in this will be held responsible."
On the House floor, Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), highlighted the annual reporting requirement in the bill, which she said would ensure that the United States makes “an informed assessment regarding the magnitude and prevalence of this problem.”
“Given the ongoing genocide, we cannot take Beijing at its word about what it is and is not doing,” she said. “We need to investigate and we need to verify.
“We should never look away from injustice and repression wherever it takes place.” -Epoch Times
Interestingly, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) did not vote for the bill because it amounts to US overreach, the lawmakers said.
"The bill gives the President unilateral broad authority to sanction individuals and politicians without any adjudication or due process," Massie told the Washington Examiner. "Furthermore, according to language in this bill, anyone who receives or offers compensation for an organ donation could be defined as an organ trafficker eligible for punitive actions from the US President."
Greene called it a "flawed bill" that allows the US government inappropriate control over global affairs.
"American politicians are elected by American citizens to protect American interests," Greene told the Examiner. "This bill, by promoting 'the establishment of voluntary organ donation systems … in bilateral diplomatic meetings and in international forums,' calls for non-American politicians, not elected by American citizens, to protect non-American interests. This is nothing more than another piece of legislation from the swamp that fails to put America First."
Under the bill, the president would be required to provide Congress with a list of suspects who have participated in forced organ harvesting or human trafficking with the intent of organ harvesting. For each suspect on the list, the president must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions, according to the legislation.
An identical version of the legislation has been introduced in the Senate, although it’s not clear when it may be brought up for a vote. -Washington Examiner
According to a study in the American Journal of Transplantation, Chinese transplant surgeons have been removing organs before donors are declared brain-dead.
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