Bill Text: DE HCR112 | 2023-2024 | 152nd General Assembly | Draft

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Bill Title: Condemning Forced Organ Harvesting Practices In The Peoples Republic Of China.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-17 - Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House [HCR112 Detail]

Download: Delaware-2023-HCR112-Draft.html

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SPONSOR:	Rep. Ramone & Sen. Hocker
Reps. Baumbach, Collins, Hilovsky, Michael Smith, Yearick; Sens. Lawson, Pettyjohn

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

152nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 112

CONDEMNING FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING PRACTICES IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

WHEREAS, extensive and credible reports have exposed the People’s Republic of China’s engagement in the vile practice of forcibly removing human organs for transplant; and

WHEREAS, this practice violates not only ethical guidelines of medicine but also Chinese tradition that requires bodies to be preserved after death, which contributes to the country’s deficient registration for organ donation; and

WHEREAS, evidence suggests that victims of involuntary organ removal are prisoners that China’s communist regime deems a threat to their control, which is primarily the practitioners of the conscience, Falun Gong, but possibly also Tibetan Buddhists, House Church Christians, and members of the Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority; and

WHEREAS, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, became immensely popular in the 1990s; and

WHEREAS, in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an intensive, nationwide persecution designed to eradicate the spiritual practice; and

WHEREAS, since then, Falun Gong practitioners have been abused by the People’s Republic of China, as documented by the United States Department of State, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many other governmental and third-party organizations; and

WHEREAS, in 2015, Freedom House reported that Falun Gong practitioners make up most victims of forced organ removal; and

WHEREAS, the Chinese government claims that ninety percent of organ transplant sources come from executed prisoners; and

WHEREAS, however, the number of executions has dropped ten percent annually since 2002; and

WHEREAS, d espite the very low rates of voluntary organ donation, China has emerged as the leading destination for transplant tourism; and

WHEREAS, in 2016, a bombshell investigative report, , estimated that China is performing sixty thousand to ninety thousand transplants per year which disputes China’s claim that they conduct only ten thousand transplants per year; and

WHEREAS, information from China’s Liver Transplant Registry System indicated that in emergency transplant cases, which made up over twenty-five percent of operations, an organ was found within hours to days; and

WHEREAS, nonemergency cases were quoted in weeks, while in other countries, patients can wait years for a transplant; and

WHEREAS, this evidence suggests that deceased prisoners’ organs are being removed without their consent and prisoners are possibly being murdered based on the organ market’s demand; and

WHEREAS, both American and Chinese media outlets have reported instances of American patients traveling to China for organ transplants due to the significantly shorter wait times; and

WHEREAS, The United Nations Committee Against Torture, the parliament of the European Union, Canada’s parliament, the U.S. House of Representatives, Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the World Medical Association, the America Society of Transplantation, and the Transplantation Society have condemned the People’s Republic of China’s practice of forced organ harvesting and called for transparency in their organ sourcing and surrounding transplant practices.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the 152nd General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that the members of the Delaware General Assembly hereby strongly condemn China’s practice of involuntary organ harvesting; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Delaware General Assembly hereby encourage the medical community to educate Delawareans about the risks of travel to China for organ transplants to help prevent Delaware residents from unwittingly becoming involved in the murder in the form of forced organ harvesting prisoners of conscience; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Delaware General Assembly respectfully urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to pass laws and adopt measures prohibiting collaboration between U.S. medical and pharmaceutical companies and any Chinese counterparts linked with forced organ harvesting, banning entry into the United States of those who have participated in unethical removals of human tissues and organs, and providing for the prosecution of such individuals.

SYNOPSIS

This resolution calls on the General Assembly to encourage the Delaware medical community to educate the citizens of Delaware about the forced organ harvesting that occurs in China, in the event they decide to travel to China for an expedited transplant. This resolution also calls on the United States Government to pass laws and regulations prohibiting American medical and pharmaceutical companies from collaborating with Chinese groups that are found to have involvement with forced organ harvesting, as well as banning entry into the United States individuals who have participated in the forced organ harvesting, and allowing prosecution of those persons involved.