,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #ecgj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august #g1    
#bjbf,mr4 ,budd 7for himself and ,mr4   
,kaine7 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         
international 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  
the ,people's ,republic of ,china ,act4 
#b4 ,findings ,the ,people's ,republic  
of ,china has been designated 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 since #aiii for 
engaging in particularly severe         
violations of religious freedom 7as     

defined in section #c of such ,act 7#bb 
,u4,s4,c4 #fdjb774  #c4 ,statement of   
policy  7a7 ,holding officials of the   
,people's ,republic of ,china           
responsible for international religious 
freedom abuses ,for any official of the 
,government of the ,people's ,republic  
of ,china that the ,united ,states      
,government determines is responsible   
for or has directly carried out abuses  
of international religious freedom1     
including those involving arbitrary     
detention1 forced sterilization1        
torture1 forced labor1 and serious      
restrictions on freedom of religion or  
belief1 expression1 and movement        
involving ethnic and religious minority 
groups1 including ,tibetan ,buddhists1  
,christians1 ,uyghur ,muslims1 and      
,falun ,gong practitioners1 in the      
,people's ,republic of ,china or        
globally1 it is the policy of the       
,united ,states to also determine       
whether such official has committed a   
gross violation of internationally      

recognized human rights for purposes of 
imposing sanctions under the ,global    
,magnitsky ,human ,rights               
,accountability ,act 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4     
#ajaja et seq474  7b7 ,department of    
,state programming ,to promote          
international religious freedom in the  
,people's ,republic of ,china ,it is the
 policy of the ,united ,states--  7#a7  
that the relevant bureaus of the        
,department of ,state should support    
efforts to promote international        
religious freedom in the ,people's      
,republic of ,china2 and  7#b7 for      
programs of the ,department of ,state to
 promote international religious freedom
 in the ,people's ,republic of ,china   
and monitor transnational repression of 
ethnic and religious minority groups by 
the ,government of the ,people's        
,republic of ,china4  #d4 ,sense of     
,congress regarding promotion of        
international religious freedom in the  
,people's ,republic of ,china ,it is the
 sense of ,congress that the ,united    

,states should promote international    
religious freedom in the ,people's      
,republic of ,china by-- 7#a7           
strengthening diplomacy relating to     
religious freedom on behalf of ethnic   
and religious minority groups1 including
 through the widespread engagement of   
international partners to combat abuses 
of religious freedom committed by the   
,government of the ,people's ,republic  
of ,china2  7#b7 strengthening          
multilateral diplomacy to address the   
persecution of ethnic and religious     
minority groups in the ,people's        
,republic of ,china2  7#c7 raising the  
cases of political prisoners imprisoned 
for exercising their right to freedom of
 religious belief with officials at the 
highest levels of the ,government of the
 ,people's ,republic of ,china2  7#d7   
calling on the ,government of the       
,people's ,republic of ,china to end its
 harassment and persecution of members  
of religious organizations1 including   
underground house church networks1      

unconditionally release all unjustly    
detained political prisoners imprisoned 
for exercising their right to freedom of
 religious belief1 and ensure that      
detainees who have not yet been released
 are treated humanely with-- 7,a7 access
 to family1 the legal counsel 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 oppressed   
religious groups in the ,people's       
,republic of ,china2 and  7#f7          
strengthening-- 7,a7 programs to        
document and monitor abuses2 and  7,b7  
support for defenders of internationally
 recognized human rights and at-risk    
communities1 including dissidents and   
individuals who have faced religious    
persecution by the ,government of the   
,people's ,republic of ,china or the    
,chinese ,communist ,party4  #e4 ,annual
 briefing  7a7 ,in general ,the         

,ambassador at ,large for ,international
 ,religious ,freedom shall provide an   
annual briefing to the appropriate      
congressional committees on-- 7#a7      
sanctions imposed on officials of the   
,government of the ,people's ,republic  
of ,china responsible for gross         
violations of internationally recognized
 human rights described in section      
#c7;a72  7#b7 efforts to strengthen     
diplomacy relating to international     
religious freedom2 and  7#c7 plans or   
efforts to raise the cases of political 
prisoners imprisoned for exercising     
their right to freedom of religious     
belief with officials at the highest    
levels of the ,government of the        
,people's ,republic of ,china4  7b7     
,appropriate congressional committees   
defined ,in this section1 the term      
appropriate congressional committees    
means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,foreign 
,relations of the ,senate2 and  7#b7 the
 ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the 
,house of ,representatives4