PRINTER'S NO. 2594
No. 390 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY HORSEY, BELFANTI, CORRIGAN, CRUZ, DAILEY, DeWEESE,
FRANKEL, FREEMAN, HERMAN, HERSHEY, JAMES, JOSEPHS, LAUGHLIN,
LEACH, MARKOSEK, MYERS, PISTELLA, READSHAW, REICHLEY, WALKO,
YOUNGBLOOD, ALLEN, BALDWIN, CLYMER, McGILL, PETRI AND
SCHRODER, SEPTEMBER 16, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
SEPTEMBER 16, 2003
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing the plight of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
2 WHEREAS, Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual
3 and meditative practice based on truthfulness, compassion and
4 tolerance, which was taught in private for thousands of years
5 before Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice to the general
6 public in China in 1992; and
7 WHEREAS, Falun Gong is practiced freely in more than 50
8 countries by tens of millions of people; and
9 WHEREAS, Falun Dafa was officially declared illegal in China
10 in July 1999; and
11 WHEREAS, According to the Falun Dafa Information Center,
12 hundreds of thousands of people have been detained, imprisoned,
13 treated with cruelty, tortured and persecuted in China in
14 connection with their practice of Falun Gong; and
15 WHEREAS, The brutal oppression of peaceful practitioners of
1 Falun Gong is a blatant violation of human rights; and
2 WHEREAS, According to the 2000 United States Census, there
3 are 50,650 Chinese Pennsylvanians; and
4 WHEREAS, According to a December 1, 2002, Philadelphia
5 Inquirer article, Jingfang Yang, who is the sister of Thomas
6 Jefferson University Hospital psychiatrist Michael J. Yang, has
7 been imprisoned since October 30, 2002; and
8 WHEREAS, Several permanent United States residents and
9 citizens have been affected by this oppression and Dr. Charles
10 Li, a United States citizen, is among the detained practitioners
11 who have been isolated from their families and loved ones;
12 therefore be it
13 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
14 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognize the plight of
15 practitioners of Falun Gong in China; and be it further
16 RESOLVED, That appropriate action by the United States
17 Government is urged; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
19 the presiding officers of each house of Congress, to each member
20 of Congress from Pennsylvania and to The Honorable Colin L.
21 Powell, Secretary of State.
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