Latest news with #StopForcedOrganHarvestingAct
Epoch Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Rubio Pledges to Help in ‘Any Way We Can' to Pass Anti-Forced Organ Harvesting Bill
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has promised to be helpful in any way possible to facilitate passage of legislation countering the Chinese regime's state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting. The question came up at the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where Rubio testified on May 21 about the State Department's 2026 budget proposal. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who co-led the 'You and I have worked on issues like forced organ harvesting,' Smith said to Rubio, noting that the two had co-chaired the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China to work on human rights issues in China. '[Chinese leader] Xi Jinping is making billions by killing tens of thousands of young people, average age 28 each and every year,' Smith said. 'And you know it—you're the sponsor of the bill. 'If we could get it out of the Senate, it would hopefully clamp down on this egregious human rights abuse in China. 'And it's a global bill. It would outlaw forced organ harvesting profoundly with real penalties—up to 20 years in prison for those who are part of the supply chain.' While a Florida senator during the last Congress, Rubio had Rubio, in response, called forced organ harvesting 'concerning.' 'We would obviously be helpful in any way we can in helping you pass that in the Senate, certainly putting a good word for it and the like,' he said. The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act would sanction anyone implicated in the abuse, including members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), by freezing their assets, prohibiting transactions, revoking their visas, and eliminating other immigration benefits. Rubio was outspoken about the issue as a senator. Last July, he In May 2024, Rubio and Smith Smith's bill would require the United States to make an assessment on forced organ harvesting and trafficking in each foreign country. 'We will task the State Department to look at what's happening in every country,' and 'determine whether or not there's a forced organ harvesting problem,' Smith told The Epoch Times on the day the House bill was passed. 'But nobody does it worse—nobody—than the People's Republic of China,' he said. Smith noted that forced organ harvesting had been going on 'far too long,' and without accountability, 'it will continue to get worse.' The act of killing for organs is 'right out of Nazi Germany and Joseph Mengele ... the cruelty of what he did during the Third Reich,' he said. The CCP viewed the growing popularity of Falun Gong as a challenge to its authoritarian rule and responded by launching a brutal persecution campaign that continues to this day. In 2019, the In 2023, Texas became the first U.S. state to Four other U.S. states—
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lone Republican becomes only lawmaker to vote against crackdown on human organ trafficking
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways A bill aimed at cracking down on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its practice of forced organ harvesting passed with overwhelming support on Wednesday – though one House lawmaker voted against it. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone Republican to oppose the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which passed 406-1. "It's just another example of us trying to stick our nose in another country's business and write their laws," Massie told Fox News Digital after the vote. "And at the end of the day, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, and it's just sort of a virtue signal over here." Massie, a conservative libertarian, often votes against House bills that weigh in on another country's affairs. Scoop: Republicans Discuss Defunding 'Big Abortion' Like Planned Parenthood In Trump Agenda Bill Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is seen outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. The Kentucky Republican pointed out that he opposed the legislation when it was up for a vote during a previous Congress. Read On The Fox News App Meet The Trump-picked Lawmakers Giving Speaker Johnson A Full House Gop Conference Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., introduced the bill. But his pushback is also notable now given his status as an open critic of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and at times, of President Donald Trump. The bill was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and would authorize the Secretary of State to deny U.S. passports and visitor visas to people involved in organ trafficking circles. Massie has been a vocal critic of House GOP leaders, including U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. It would also call for sanctions on entities and individuals found to have participated in the gruesome illicit industry. U.S. lawmakers have accused China of forced organ harvesting of its ideological opponents, including Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghur Muslims. Original article source: Lone Republican becomes only lawmaker to vote against crackdown on human organ trafficking
Epoch Times
07-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
House Overwhelmingly Passes Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act
The House voted 406–1 to pass a measure aimed at punishing perpetrators of state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting in China, paving the way for holding accountable those involved in the systematic killing of innocents for profit. The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act ( The act would sanction anyone implicated in the abuse, including members of the Chinese Communist Party, blocking their property and barring them from engaging in U.S. transactions. Such individuals would also see their visas revoked and lose other immigration benefits. Under the legislation, those involved in forced organ harvesting would also face a civil fine of $250,000 maximum, and for those engaging in the act willfully, a criminal penalty that goes up to $1,000,000 and a potential 20 years in prison. 'We need a penalty that's commensurate with the crime and the crime is outrageous,' Smith told The Epoch Times ahead of the vote. The president would submit a list of individuals who fund, sponsor, or facilitate the abuse in other ways to the appropriate congressional committee within 180 days of the act's enactment. Related Stories 5/5/2025 4/22/2025 The bill would also require a report assessing, in each foreign country, forced organ harvesting and trafficking in persons for that purpose. The latter refers to acts of coercion, abduction, deception, fraud, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability, or transactional exchange to exert control over a targeted person. If enacted into law, the act would make it a U.S. policy to combat the illicit act, promote the establishment of voluntary organ donation systems with effective enforcement mechanisms in bilateral talks and international health forums, and promote the dignity and security of human life in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Smith said the bill sends a message to anyone who tries to get an organ without caring about where it's coming from. 'You're going to pay a huge huge penalty for it,' he said. He added that the bill will also help make sure that all parts of the U.S. government are 'very well aware of this horrific reality.' 'It has been stealth. There's been a cover-up for far too many years by many of the China hands—the people that work on K Street and just talk about trade, trade, trade,' he said. 'I'm for trade as long as it's principled and based on human rights.' The forced organ harvesting industry saw a boom starting from 2000, as the regime began a full-scale campaign to persecute the popular faith group Falun Gong, which by then had 70 million to 100 million estimated followers. In 2019, a London-based people's tribunal concluded that forced organ harvesting has happened on a ' 'The Chinese Communist Party remains one of the most serious threats to human rights,' said Mark Yang, advocacy officer for Falun Dafa Information Center, in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. Mark Yang, Falun Dafa Information Center advocacy officer and a policy analyst on China at Horizon Engage, speaks about the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act passed by the House, on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 7, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times The act's passage on Wednesday makes it the It had received
