A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers recently announced in the House and Senate the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which aims to stop the Chinese Communist Party from harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience.
The bill is sponsored by Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Republican Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Democratic Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY).
In a statement, Senator Cotton said, “There is growing evidence that the Chinese Communist Party has and continues to forcibly harvest the organs of Chinese prisoners and members of Chinese religious and ethnic minorities. The bill would identify, and would punish, members of the Chinese Communist Party who have participated in forced organ harvesting. It is long past time to hold Beijing accountable for these heinous acts.”
Rep. Smith’s statement said, “Forced organ harvesting is a barbaric, inhumane and heinous act of global significance because transnational human trafficking rings, terrorist organizations, crooked businessmen and even governments, especially the Chinese Communist regime, kill innocent people and sell their organs for profit.”
He also said that global problems require a global response. Under this bill, the State Department would identify and expose forced organ harvesters and organ traffickers who often target vulnerable populations such as political prisoners or minorities, punish those individuals, and promote effective sanctions and travel restrictions. Smithers added that the bill would help bring more light to these horrific activities and ultimately help end such horrific human rights violations.
For his part, Rep. Suozzi said, “The Chinese Communist Party has been taking advantage of (taking advantage of) prisoners, minorities and religious groups for years. We continue to see them further exploit these groups today through organ harvesting, and members of the CCP must be held accountable for these unspeakable acts. Organ harvesting has no place in our world.”
The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act would require the State Department to provide an annual report on foreign forced organ harvesting, which should identify the foreign officials and entities responsible for forced organ harvesting.
Under this bill, sanctions would also be imposed on foreign officials and entities that engage in or otherwise support forced organ harvesting.
In addition, the bill would require a ban on the export of organ transplantation equipment to entities responsible for forced organ harvesting, as well as authorize the U.S. government to deny or revoke the passports of illegal organ purchasers.
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