,i #aagth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #dhba ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,july #bi1 #bjba,mrs4 ,hartzler 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,duncan1 ,mr4 ,gallagher1 ,mr4 ,lamborn1 ,mr4 ,aderholt1 ,mr4 ,latta1 ,mr4 ,bilirakis1 ,mr4 ,weber of ,texas1 ,ms4 ,salazar1 ,mr4 ,timmons1 ,mr4 ,good of ,virginia1 ,mr4 ,hice of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,budd1 ,mr4 ,harris1 ,mr4 ,steube1 ,mr4 ,guest1 ,mr4 ,gohmert1 ,mrs4 ,miller-,meeks1 ,mr4 ,gaetz1 ,mr4 ,babin1 ,mr4 ,mullin1 ,mr4 ,brooks1 ,mrs4 ,wagner1 ,mr4 ,pfluger1 ,mr4 ,reschenthaler1 ,mr4 ,grothman1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,ohio1 ,ms4 ,letlow1 ,mr4 ,smith of ,new ,jersey1 ,mr4 ,mann1 ,mr4 ,waltz1 ,mr4 ,allen1 ,mr4 ,owens1 ,mr4 ,buck1 ,mrs4 ,miller of ,illinois1 and ,ms4 ,stefanik7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 and in addition to the ,committees on the ,judiciary1 and ,ways and ,means1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to hold accountable senior officials of the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china who are responsible for1 complicit in1 or have directly persecuted ,christians in ,china1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,combating the ,persecution of ,christians in ,china ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,according to the ,department of ,state's ,international ,religious ,freedom reports1 there are an estimated #ab1jjj1jjj ,chinese ,catholics and #fj1jjj1jjj to #hj1jjj1jjj ,chinese ,protestants worshiping in both officially registered and unregistered churches in ,china4 7#b7 ,the practice of ,christianity is overseen by four major entities3 ,three-,self ,patriotic ,movement1 the ,china ,christian ,council1 the ,chinese ,patriotic ,catholic ,association1 and the ,bishops ,conference of ,catholic ,church in ,china4 7#c7 ,the activities of state-sanctioned religious organizations are regulated by the ,chinese ,communist ,party1 which manages all aspects of religious life4 7#d7 ,the ,chinese ,communist ,party is actively seeking to control1 govern1 and manipulate all aspects of faith through the ,sinicization of ,religion1 a process intended to shape religious traditions and doctrines so they conform with the objectives of the ,chinese ,communist ,party4 7#e7 ,on ,february #a1 #bjah1 the ,chinese government implemented new religious regulations that imposed restrictions on ,chinese contacts with overseas religious organizations1 required government approval for religious schools1 websites1 and any online religious service1 and effectively banned unauthorized religious gatherings and teachings4 7#f7 ,since ,february #a1 #bjah1 forced closures of churches1 arbitrary detention1 and arrest of ,christian clergy and practitioners have steadily increased1 including the arrest and #i-year prison sentence of ,pastor ,wang ,yi of the ,early ,rain ,covenant ,church4 7#g7 ,in ,september #bjah1 the ,holy ,see announced that a ,provisional ,agreement on the appointment of bishops had been signed with the ,chinese government2 however1 several news sources have reported that since the agreement was signed ,chinese authorities have detained clergy1 pressured them to join an independent church1 closed unregistered churches1 and removed children from churches4 7#h7 ,there are credible reports of ,chinese authorities raiding house churches1 removing crosses1 confiscating religious paraphernalia1 installing surveillance cameras on church property1 pressuring churches to sing songs of the ,chinese ,communist ,party and display the national flag during community worship1 forcing churches to replace images of ,jesus ,christ or the ,virgin ,mary with pictures of ,president ,xi ,jinping1 and banning children and students from attending church services4 7#i7 ,it has been reported that ,china is rewriting and will issue a version of the ,bible with the correct understanding of the text according to the ,chinese ,communist ,party4 7#aj7 ,according to the ,department of ,state's ,international ,religious ,freedom reports1 the ,chinese government has imprisoned thousands of individuals of all faiths for practicing their religious beliefs and often labels them as cults4 7#aa7 ,prisoners include ,pastor ,zhang ,shaojie1 a ,three-,self church pastor from ,nanle ,county in ,china's central ,henan was sentenced in ,july #bjad to #ab years in prison for gathering a crowd to disrupt the public order1 and ,pastor ,john ,cao1 a ,united ,states permanent resident from ,greensboro1 ,north ,carolina1 who was sentenced for #g years in prison in ,march #bjah under contrived charges of organizing illegal border crossings4 7#ab7 ,since #aiii1 the ,department of ,state has designated ,china as a country of particular concern under the ,international ,religious ,freedom ,act of #aiih4 7#ac7 ,the ,bipartisan ,congressional ,trade ,priorities and ,accountability ,act of #bjae states that the ,united ,states overall trade negotiating objectives must take into account conditions relating to religious freedom of any party to negotiations for a trade agreement with the ,united ,states4 7#ad7 ,the ,national ,security ,strategy of the ,united ,states issued in #bjag1 #bjae1 #bjjf1 #bjjb1 #aiii1 #aiih1 and #aiig1 committed the ,united ,states to promoting international religious freedom to advance the security1 economic1 and other national interests of the ,united ,states4 #c4 ,statement of policy 7a7 ,holding ,chinese officials responsible for religious freedom abuses targeting ,chinese ,christians ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states to consider senior officials of the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china who are responsible for1 complicit in1 or have directly persecuted ,christians in ,china to have committed-- 7#a7 a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for purposes of imposing sanctions with respect to such officials under the ,global ,magnitsky ,human ,rights ,accountability ,act 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bfef note72 and 7#b7 a particularly severe violation of religious freedom for purposes of applying section #bab7;a77#b77;,g7 of the ,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aahb7;a77#b77;,g77 with respect to such officials4 7b7 ,ensuring trade negotiations consider religious freedom conditions ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states to ensure that trade negotiations with ,china include religious freedom conditions as mandated by the ,bipartisan ,congressional ,trade ,priorities and ,accountability ,act of #bjae 7#ai ,u4,s4,c4 #dbja et seq474 7c7 ,department of ,state programming ,to promote religious freedom for ,chinese ,christians ,consistent with section #dja of the ,frank ,r4 ,wolf ,international ,religious ,freedom ,act 7,public ,law #aad-bha2 #acj ,stat4 #adcf71 of the funds available to the ,department of ,state for international religious freedom programs1 the ,ambassador-at-,large for ,international ,religious ,freedom should support efforts to protect and promote international religious freedom in ,china and for programs to protect ,christians in ,china and other religious groups4 7d7 ,redesignation of ,china as a country of particular concern ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states to continue to redesignate ,china as a country of particular concern1 as long as ,china continues to engage in systematic and egregious religious freedom violations1 as defined by the ,international ,religious ,freedom ,act of #aiih 7,public ,law #aje-bib74 7e7 ,international ministerial ,to advance religious freedom ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states that the ,department of ,state will host once every two years the ,ministerial to ,advance ,religious ,freedom in order to bring together leaders from around the world to discuss the challenges facing religious freedom1 identify means to address religious persecution and discrimination worldwide1 and promote great respect for and preservation of religious liberty4 #d4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,united ,states should promote religious freedom in ,china by-- 7#a7 strengthening religious freedom diplomacy on behalf of ,christians and other religious minorities facing restrictions in ,china2 7#b7 raising cases relating to religious or political prisoners at the highest levels with ,chinese officials because experience demonstrates that consistently raising prisoner cases can result in improved treatment1 reduced sentences1 or in some cases1 release from custody1 detention1 or imprisonment2 7#c7 encouraging ,members of ,congress to adopt a prisoner of conscience in ,china through the ,lantos ,human ,rights ,commission's ,defending ,freedom ,project1 raise the case with ,chinese officials1 and work publicly for their release2 7#d7 calling on the ,chinese ,government to unconditionally release religious and political prisoners or1 at the very least1 ensure that detainees are treated humanely with access to family1 the lawyer of their choice1 independent medical care1 and the ability to practice their faith while in detention2 and 7#e7 encouraging the global faith community to speak in solidarity with the persecuted religious groups in ,china1 including ,christians4