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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as Expressing condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of religious minority groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists and the detention of Pastor "Ezra" Jin Mingri and leaders of the Zion Church, and reaffirming the United States' global commitment to promote religious freedom and tolerance., members such as Christopher Henry Smith.
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May 12, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextSHOULD PRIORITIZE SECURING THE RELEASE OF PASTOR JIN MINGRI, PASTOR GAO QUANFU AND HIS WIFE PANG YU, DR. GULSHAN ABBAS, AND JIMMY LAI DETAINED BY THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA DURING FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS WITH CHINESE
PRESIDENT XI JINPING
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1259) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai detained by the People's Republic of China during future engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1259
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
has arrested Chinese, American, and British citizens for the
peaceful expression of speech or religion, or such acts by
family members;
Whereas such arrests have been widely condemned by the
international community and human rights organizations, with
repeated calls for the release of the detainees;
Whereas, on May 17, 2025, Pastor Gao Quanfu of the Light of
Zion Church in Xi'an Province was detained and is being held
on charges of “using superstitious activities to undermine
the implementation of law” and “fraud”;
Whereas Pastor Gao's wife, Pang Yu, who was subsequently
detained on June 7, 2025, remains held despite holding no
official position in the church, and has been denied access
to critical prescription medication;
Whereas, on or about October 10, 2025, authorities of the
People's Republic of China detained Pastor Jin Mingri,
founder of Zion Church, along with other church leaders, on
equally dubious charges of “illegal use of information
networks”;
Whereas Pastor Jin continues to be detained without access
to critical medications to treat diabetes or contact with
family members in the People's Republic of China and the
United States;
Whereas, on November 7, 2025, the Senate unanimously passed
Senate Resolution 463, calling for the “immediate and
unconditional release of all detained members of Zion Church,
including Pastor Jin” and for the Government of the People's
Republic of China to end “harassment and intimidation of the
relatives of Zion church members and their relatives”;
Whereas Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical doctor and
grandmother, was forcibly disappeared on September 11, 2018,
shortly after her sister, a United States citizen, publicly
criticized the treatment of Uyghurs by the Government of the
People's Republic of China;
Whereas Dr. Abbas was later sentenced to 20 years following
secret proceedings on charges that independent observers and
human rights organizations have characterized as politically
motivated;
Whereas the prolonged detention of Dr. Abbas raises grave
concerns regarding her health, wellbeing, and access to due
process, as she suffers from severe high blood pressure and
osteoporosis, among other conditions;
Whereas, in 1995, Jimmy Lai founded the Apple Daily
newspaper in Hong Kong and subsequently faced repeated
harassment and arrest, including a 69 month sentence in 2022,
on dubious fraud charges and a subsequent 20 year sentence in
February 2026, on equally dubious national security charges;
Whereas, in December 2025, President Donald Trump said he
had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider releasing
Jimmy Lai;
Whereas, on December 4, 2025, House Resolution 930 was
introduced commemorating Jimmy Lai and calling on authorities
of the People's Republic of China to “immediately and
unconditionally release Jimmy Lai and all other Hong Kong
pro-democracy advocates unjustly imprisoned”;
Whereas, on September 11, 2025, the House introduced the
“FREEDOM for Gao Zhisheng and All Political Prisoners Act”,
which would strengthen United States diplomatic efforts to
advocate for the release of unjustly detained political
prisoners in the People's Republic of China and in Hong Kong
by requiring a coordinated strategy for political-prisoner
advocacy and encouraging the use of available accountability
tools against officials responsible for arbitrary detention
and other human rights abuses; and
Whereas addressing individual cases of wrongful detention
has historically been an important component of United States
diplomacy, reflects longstanding bipartisan commitments to
political and religious freedoms, and is an important factor
in United States bilateral relations: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) calls upon the President to prioritize securing the
humanitarian release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu
and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Jimmy Lai, and other
unjustly detained individuals on the agenda for engagements
with President Xi Jinping, including the anticipated May 2026
summit;
(2) urges the President to seek verifiable proof of life
and access to independent legal counsel, family
communication, and medical care for such detainees; and
(3) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to defend
political and religious freedom and advocate for the release
of those unjustly detained for exercising such fundamental
freedoms.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Olszewski) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
thank President Trump for requesting on numerous occasions that Xi Jinping release Jimmy Lai and other women and men who are gravely sick and unjustly incarcerated.
in Chinese prisons today, including Nelson Wells of New Orleans and Dawn Michelle Hunt from Chicago. At a hearing that I chaired in September of 2024, Bringing Home Americans Detained in China, we heard heartbreaking stories from their families and their loved ones.
wrongfully detained in China than in any other country. I have introduced legislation to create a comprehensive strategy to try to obtain their release.
H. Res. 1259 speaks to this issue of unjustly detained individuals. It is about Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of the Zion Church, detained and denied needed medical care. It is about Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu, detained for peaceful religious leadership. It is about Gulshan Abbas, serving a 20-year sentence because her sister, Rushan Abbas, dared to tell Congress the truth about the CCP's genocide against the Uyghurs. I alone, and she has testified before other committees, have had Rushan Abbas testify three different times. She is eloquent. She is nonviolent and just wants her sister returned home to be safe.
of Apple Daily imprisoned because he defended freedom of the press, democracy, and the rule of law in Hong Kong.
of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. When he was done I said: You know, you are a chip off the old block. You are so persuasive and so full of goodness just like your father.
speaking truth to power and that he may die in prison. That testimony, Madam Speaker, should haunt us and move us to action.
Speaker
Act. Unfortunately, it has only gotten worse since then. Yes, sanctions have been meted out, but unfortunately, Xi Jinping has incarcerated the best, the bravest, and the brightest in all of China.
Jimmy Lai should not spend one more night in a Hong Kong prison. He is a man of total nonviolence. He used the power of the pen to try to persuade and to admonish.
tenaciously, and prayerfully advocated for her father's release. Claire told the Associated Press last December that her dad just wants to reunite with his family. He wants to dedicate his life, what is left of it, to serving our Lord, and he wants to dedicate the rest of his days to his family.
Claire has met with many, many House and Senate Members. She sat right up there during the State of the Union Address. She has met with Members. I was with her for much of that time. She was with the Speaker, and she was just so gracious. She exudes compassion, and she radiates kindness. All that she and Sebastien are asking for is that their father be released. We know President Trump is going to raise that face-to-face with Xi Jinping.
years and have worked on the release of political prisoners all over the world starting in the Soviet Union. We have always found out that when the United States names prisoners, it works. Reagan did it all the time. Secretary of State Shultz said specific names, and many of those people were released when they were advocated for.
{time} 1710
about 500 prisoners have been released due to the advocacy and intervention of the President. That is amazing. It does work, and he is trying to do it now as he heads over to China.
It matters. It matters to their families. It matters to every prisoner languishing in a cell because he or she dare to pray, publish, speak, worship, or advocate for fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Silence is not an option. Silence tells the jailer no one is watching. Silence tells the prisoner the world has moved on, turned the page. Silence tells Beijing that hostage diplomacy, coercive exit bans, and transnational repression can be normalized.
It can't be normalized. We will not be silent, and we pray and hope that the President is successful.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1259, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Ezra Jin; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; as well as Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lai, all of whom, Madam Speaker, have been detained by the People's Republic of China. We encourage him to take this approach during his upcoming talks with President Xi Jinping.
I also thank my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his longstanding leadership on this important issue.
confront Beijing not only on economic issues but also on its deeply troubling human rights record, including its suppression of free speech and its ongoing persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.
members of the Christian Zion Church, Beijing has imprisoned far too many individuals simply for practicing their faith or exercising their fundamental right of free speech.
Across China, underground churches are raided; pastors, like Pastor Jin, are surveilled; congregations are harassed; and believers are detained simply for worshipping outside state control.
also been arrested without cause and denied access to all necessary medical care.
Uyghurs, like Dr. Abbas, face mass internment, forced labor, and egregious human rights abuses that our own government has declared a genocide.
extraordinary courage in defense of a free press, are imprisoned for speaking the truth, including reporting on Beijing's democracy crackdown in Hong Kong.
Mr. Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison. This is the most excessive sentence that China has ever given for this so-called offense. Yet, unlike prior U.S. administrations that recognize the clear link between human rights and our own security and prosperity, the Trump administration has not meaningfully engaged on China's troubling human rights abuses and too often has failed to forcefully raise these issues in high-level bilateral engagements with Beijing. That must change.
the release of all the individuals named a central objective in his upcoming meeting with President Xi.
Beijing will distract our focus away from China's human rights abuses, but we need to be clear that the U.S. cannot take the pressure off of Beijing on these critical issues. China cannot be allowed to continue its repression of religious communities, ethnic minorities, Hong Kongers, or the press with impunity.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.
Mrs. KIM. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith for yielding.
I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1259. This resolution sends a very clear message: The United States will not be silent while the Chinese Communist Party continues to detain, torture, and disappear innocent people, including family members of American citizens.
These individuals are not criminals. They are pastors, doctors, publishers, and brave voices who have been targeted simply because they threaten the CCP's fabricated narrative and grip on power.
concentration camps in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities face genocide because of their language, culture, and beliefs.
basic freedoms. Jimmy Lai, the courageous founder of Apple Daily, has now spent over 5 years imprisoned. In February of this year, he was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison, which is essentially a life sentence. At 78 years old, his health is deteriorating, and his case is a symbol of Beijing's assault on the rule of law and basic human rights.
at Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Around the world, Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, and prodemocracy voices are under threat.
week, we urge for the prioritization of the immediate and unconditional release of Pastor Jin Mingri; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; Dr. Gulshan Abbas; Jimmy Lai; and all others justly detained.
We reject the CCP's reign of terror. We stand with every freedom- loving people in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and across China who dreams of a day when faith is not a crime and truth is not censored.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker Emerita.
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, Mr. Olszewski— Johnny O. as we call him—for his leadership and his beautiful statement on what we are challenged with right now and how this legislation addresses that.
I always want to praise Mr. Smith for his leadership on human rights throughout the world. We have been working on these things for 30 years probably—he is not paying attention—but 30 years with Frank Wolf going and visiting people in prison and trying to make sure people knew.
most horrible form of torture that they can put on a prisoner is to tell them nobody even remembers them or cares about them or even knows why they are in prison. That is why I thank you both for bringing this legislation to the floor so that we on the floor of the House of Representatives can make sure that they know they are not forgotten.
President to prioritize the release of these courageous individuals who have been unjustly detained by the government of the People's Republic of China simply for exercising their fundamental human rights.
{time} 1720
free press in Hong Kong. Mr. Smith talked about Jimmy and his son, Sebastien, and his daughter, Claire. Now they have a grandbaby in the family, and Jimmy, of course, is not able to see the baby while they torture him in prison.
Then Dr. Gulshan Abbas has disappeared because of Beijing's repression of Uyghurs. She is there because of what her sister has testified to us, Mr. Smith mentioned, and that is engaging in transnational human rights suppression.
Jin Mingri, we heard about him; Pastors Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, we have heard about them. Pastor Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, and Dr. Abbas—I talked about Dr. Gulshan Abbas.
bicameral, House and Senate. Democrats and Republicans always come together on these pieces of legislation. I want to call special attention to what our Speaker Johnson did a few months ago. He was invited to address the House of Commons in this our bicentennial year of our country. I asked him if he would mention Jimmy Lai in his speech, and he did. He told me it got a good response. We thank the Speaker for making that appeal to the House of Commons.
separated from America's engagement with China. The release of these individuals must remain a priority at the highest level of diplomacy. While the President is on his visit there, he is bringing with him a long list of business leaders. I have to say if we do not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights anywhere in the world.
to stand for freedom, human rights, and the principles that no person should be imprisoned simply for what they believe. Let's make this a strong, as always, bipartisan vote. I thank the chairman, Mr. Smith. I thank Johnny O, and I urge a strong bipartisan vote in support of the resolution.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi), who is the co-chair of the Uyghur Caucus.
Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my friend Chris Smith's resolution to encourage our President while in China to push for the release of political prisoners of the Chinese Communist Party.
First is Dr. Gulshan Abbas. Dr. Gulshan is a minority Muslim in the Xinjiang region of China, a Uyghur who has been imprisoned for 8 years for the crime of being a practicing Muslim and as retribution for her sister's human rights advocacy. Even before I started the Congressional Uyghur Caucus in 2021, I have been fighting alongside Gulshan's U.S. citizen sister, Rushan Abbas, and U.S. citizen daughter, Ziba, and other family members to free this innocent woman.
imprisoned for the crime of leading a powerful Christian movement in Beijing. He and other Christian leaders in China are the victims of the Chinese Communist Party's war on faith.
bicameral letter with over 30 Members of the House and Senate calling for the release of Pastor Jin and other leaders of his church. Pastor Jin's U.S. citizen daughter, Grace, has been an inspiration, as have been the messages coming from Pastor Jin.
Jimmy Lai is a remarkable man imprisoned for the crime of journalism. I met Jimmy Lai here in our Nation's Capital in 2019 as he fought against the corruption and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party. As he fought with peaceful protest in favor of democracy in the face of brutal repression in Hong Kong, he wanted me to encourage student protesters in Hong Kong to remain peaceful and practice nonviolence. Instead of me advocating for the students to remain peaceful in their protest, I enlisted the help of one of America's great civil rights icons, John Lewis.
millions of people throughout the world. John Lewis reminded us all to practice “peace, love, and nonviolence to change things.” He told us to respect the dignity and worth of every human being.
wrongfully imprisoned since 2020 and is sentenced to 20 years more. His daughter, Claire, and son, Sebastien, have done heroic work to have their ailing father released.
Lewis and so many others to respect the dignity and worth of every human being and release Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Pastor Jin Mingri, Jimmy Lai, and every other person who has been wrongfully imprisoned and to change the dynamic between our two countries. This resolution encourages our President to make this release a priority on this trip.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.
Mr. SUOZZI. We urge the Chinese Communist Party to stop defending the indefensible and enhance China's standing in the world by working with President Trump to finally get this done.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.
in this body that the U.S. must, once again, apply pressure and use leverage to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, journalists, and Hong Kongers, and force it to release those whom they have been wrongfully imprisoned.
negotiations the release of Pastor Jin; Pastor Gao Quanfu, and his wife, Pang Yu; Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lei.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I thank my friends on the other side of the aisle. I thank Mr. Olszewksi for his kind words on behalf of this important resolution and Speaker Pelosi and Tom Suozzi. We worked together very, very closely on the Uyghurs, and I thank him for his strong statement, and of course, Young Kim, as eloquent as she always is.
There is a great deal of support for Jimmy Lai.
As we all know, he is 78. He got a 20-year prison sentence on top of the 5 he has already served. It is a death sentence. He is not well. He has a number of maladies that are affecting his health. We know, and the Speaker will remember, when Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, when he was gravely sick, the Chinese Communist Party would not even let him get the medical attention that he required. We don't want a deja vu on that ever.
necessary healthcare and to, in these final years, enjoy his amazing family and to be celebrated, frankly, for the great man that he is.
In part it said:
The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai's freedom is urgent and
undeniable. He is a devout Catholic and successful
entrepreneur who has already spent 5 years in detention, much
of it in solitary confinement. His health has declined in
custody, and prolonged isolation and inadequate prison
conditions only increase the risk of permanent harm.
Mr. President, we greatly appreciated that you have
discussed the case of Jimmy Lai with Xi Jinping before. We
know you have pledged to do it again.
We are hoping that the appeal will be heard by Xi Jinping himself: Search deep in your heart.
{time} 1730
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1259.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.