,,ii #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #cafd ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,october #cj1 #bjbc,mr4 ,budd 7for himself and ,mr4 ,tillis7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,a ,,bill ,to state the policy of the ,united ,states with respect to religious freedom in the ,people's ,republic of ,china1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,combatting the ,persecution of ,religious ,groups in ,china ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,according to estimates included in ,international ,religious ,freedom reports issued by the ,department of ,state1 ,buddhists comprise #ah4b percent of the total population in the ,people's ,republic of ,china1 ,christians1 #e4a percent1 ,muslims1 #a4h percent1 followers of folk religions1 #ba percent1 and atheists or unaffiliated persons1 #eb4ab percent1 with ,hindus1 ,jews1 and ,taoists comprising less than #a percent4 7#b7 ,the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china recognizes #e official religions1 ,buddhism1 ,taoism1 ,islam1 ,protestantism1 and ,catholicism 7according to an ,international ,religious ,freedom report issued by the ,department of ,state71 and only religious groups belonging to #a of the #e sanctioned patriotic religious associations representing those religions are permitted to register with the ,government and hold worship service1 excluding all other faiths and denying the ability to worship without being registered with the ,government4 7#c7 ,the activities of state-sanctioned religious organizations in the ,people's ,republic of ,china are regulated by the ,chinese ,communist ,party1 which manages all aspects of religious life in the country4 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 so they conform with the objectives of the ,chinese ,communist ,party4 7#e7 ,on ,february #a1 #bjah1 the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china 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 ,there are numerous reports that authorities in the ,people's ,republic of ,china have forced closures of ,buddhist1 ,christian1 ,islamic1 and ,taoist houses of worship and destroyed public displays of religious symbols throughout the country4 7#g7 ,authorities of the ,people's ,republic of ,china have arrested and detained religious leaders trying to hold services online4 7#h7 ,there are credible reports of ,chinese authorities raiding house churches and other places of religious worship1 removing and confiscating religious paraphernalia1 installing surveillance cameras on religious property1 pressuring congregations to sing songs of the ,chinese ,communist ,party and display the national flag during worship1 forcing churches to replace images of ,jesus ,christ or the ,virgin ,mary with pictures of ,general ,secretary ,xi ,jinping1 and banning children and students from attending religious services4 7#i7 ,it has been reported that the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china is rewriting and will issue a version of the ,bible with the correct understanding of the text according to the ,chinese ,communist ,party4 ,authorities continue to restrict the printing and distribution of the ,bible1 ,quran1 and other religious literature and penalize publishing and copying businesses that handle religious materials4 7#aj7 ,according to ,international ,religious ,freedom reports issued by the ,department of ,state1 the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china has imprisoned thousands of individuals of all faiths for practicing their religious beliefs and often labels groups of those individuals as cults4 7#aa7 ,according to the ,department of ,labor1 the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china has arbitrarily detained more than #a1jjj1jjj ,uyghurs and other mostly ,muslim minorities in ,china's far western ,xinjiang ,uyghur ,autonomous ,region4 7#ab7 ,it has been reported that the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china engages in transnational repression activities such as relentlessly intimidating diaspora religious communities and others with ties to ,china4 7#ac7 ,as of ,october #aa1 #bjai1 the ,political ,prisoner ,database maintained by the ,congressional-,executive ,commission on ,china counted #a1eih cases with information on political and religious prisoners known or believed to be detained or imprisoned in ,china4 7#ad7 ,as of ,june #cj1 #bjbc1 the ,political ,prisoner ,database maintained by the human rights nongovernmental organization ,dui ,hua ,foundation counted #b1hig individuals imprisoned in ,china for organizing or using a cult to undermine implementation of the law4 7#ae7 ,the ,united ,states ,commission on ,international ,religious ,freedom 7,,uscirf7 maintains a list of religious prisoners of conscience who were imprisoned in ,china for their religious belief or non-belief1 religious activity1 religious freedom advocacy1 and other related issues4 ,those prisoners of conscience include-- 7,a7 the #aath ,panchen ,lama1 ,gedun ,choekyi ,nyima1 who has been held captive along with his parents since ,may #ag1 #aiie2 7,b7 ,pastor ,zhang ,shaojie1 a ,three-,self church pastor from ,nanle ,county in central ,henan1 who was sentenced in ,july #bjad to #ab years in prison for gathering a crowd to disrupt the public order2 7,c7 ,pastor ,john ,cao1 a ,united ,states permanent resident from ,greensboro1 ,north ,carolina1 who was sentenced to #g years in prison in ,march #bjah under contrived charges of organizing illegal border crossings2 and 7,d7 ,pastor ,wang ,yi of the ,early ,rain ,covenant ,church1 who was arrested and sentenced to #i years in prison for inciting to subvert state power and illegal business operations4 7#af7 ,authorities of the ,people's ,republic of ,china continue to detain ,falun ,gong practitioners and subject them to harsh and inhumane treatment4 7#ag7 ,since #aiii1 the ,department of ,state has designated the ,people's ,republic of ,china as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under the ,international ,religious ,freedom ,act of #aiih 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #fdja et seq474 7#ah7 ,on ,june #ag1 #bjbj1 the ,uyghur ,human ,rights ,policy ,act of #bjbj 7,public ,law #aaf-ade7 came into force1 requiring reporting on human rights violations and abuses committed by the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china against ,uyghurs and other ,muslim minority groups in the ,xinjiang ,uyghur ,autonomous ,region and calling for the use of targeted sanctions against officials of the ,people's ,republic of ,china found to have engaged in such violations4 7#ai7 ,on ,june #ba1 #bjbb1 section #c of ,public ,law #aag-gh 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #fija note7 7commonly referred to as the ,uyghur ,forced ,labor ,prevention ,act7 came into force1 blocking products1 goods1 and material originating from the ,xinjiang ,uyghur ,autonomous ,region from entering the ,united ,states due to the risk that such items were produced using forced labor4 7#bj7 ,the ,national ,security ,strategy of the ,united ,states1 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 senior officials of the ,people's ,republic of ,china responsible for religious freedom atrocities ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states to consider any senior official of the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china who is responsible for or has directly carried out1 at any time1 atrocities including arbitrary imprisonment1 forced sterilization1 torture1 forced labor1 and draconian restrictions on freedom of religion1 expression1 and movement against religious minorities1 including ,christians1 ,uyghurs1 and ,falun ,gong1 in the ,people's ,republic of ,china to have committed-- 7#a7 a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for purposes of imposing sanctions with respect to such official under the ,global ,magnitsky ,human ,rights ,accountability ,act 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #ajaja et seq472 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 official4 7b7 ,department of ,state programming ,to promote religious freedom in the ,people's ,republic of ,china ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states-- 7#a7 that the ,ambassador at ,large for ,international ,religious ,freedom should support efforts to protect and promote international religious freedom in the ,people's ,republic of ,china2 and 7#b7 for programs of the ,department of ,state to protect religious minorities in the ,people's ,republic of ,china and combat transnational repression engaged in by the ,people's ,republic of ,china4 7c7 ,designation of the ,people's ,republic of ,china as a country of particular concern for religious freedom ,it is the policy of the ,united ,states to continue to designate the ,people's ,republic of ,china as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under section #djb7;b77#a77;,a77ii7 of the ,international ,religious ,freedom ,act of #aiih 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #fddb7;b77#a77;,a77ii77 as long as the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china continues to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom 7as defined in section #c of such ,act 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #fdjb774 #d4 ,sense of ,congress regarding promotion of religious freedom in the ,people's ,republic of ,china ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,united ,states should promote religious freedom in the ,people's ,republic of ,china by-- 7#a7 strengthening diplomacy relating to religious freedom on behalf of ,christians and other religious minorities facing restrictions in the ,people's ,republic of ,china1 including through the widespread engagement of international partners to combat the violations against religious freedom committed by the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china2 7#b7 raising the cases of religious and political prisoners at the highest levels with officials of the ,people's ,republic of ,china because experience demonstrates that consistently raising prisoner cases can result in reduced sentences1 or in some cases1 release from custody1 detention1 or imprisonment2 7#c7 encouraging ,members of ,congress to become advocates for prisoners of conscience in the ,people's ,republic of ,china through the ,defending ,freedoms ,project of the ,tom ,lantos ,human ,rights ,commission1 raise the cases of those prisoners with officials of the ,people's ,republic of ,china1 and work publicly for their release2 7#d7 calling on the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china to unconditionally release religious and political prisoners and ensure that detainees who have not yet been released are treated humanely with-- 7,a7 access to family1 the lawyer of their choice1 independent medical care1 and international monitoring mechanisms2 and 7,b7 the ability to practice their faith while in detention2 7#e7 encouraging the global faith community to speak in solidarity with the persecuted religious groups in the ,people's ,republic of ,china2 and 7#f7 hosting1 once every #b years1 the ,ministerial to ,advance ,religious ,freedom organized by the ,department of ,state 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 #e4 ,sense of ,congress regarding action by the ,united ,nations ,human ,rights ,council ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,united ,nations ,human ,rights ,council should issue a formal condemnation of the ,people's ,republic of ,china for the ongoing genocide against ,uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups and the persecution of ,christians1 ,falun ,gong1 and other religious groups4