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S.Res.238 / 105th Congress

A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding human rights conditions in China and Tibet.

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5617)

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 1, 1998

Declares that at the upcoming U.S.-China summit the President should: (1) secure from China's leaders a pledge to remove the names on an official reentry blacklist, which now contains the names of more than 50 Chinese citizens living in the United States who cannot return to China because of their peaceful advocacy of greater rights and freedom; and (2) visit family members of victims of the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square. Declares that in the context of the upcoming U.S.-China summit, the President should urge the Chinese leaders to: (1) engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama with the aim of establishing genuine cultural and religious autonomy in Tibet; (2) revise China's security laws, including the provisions on "endangering state security" added to the criminal code in March 1997; (3) release unconditionally all imprisoned political, religious, and labor activists detained for their peaceful, nonviolent involvement in public protests; (4) review the sentences of more than 2,000 convicted so-called "counterrevolutionaries" to consider releasing those convicted solely for exercising their internationally recognized rights of free speech and association; (5) encourage greater cooperation by the Chinese Government with the United Nation's human rights mechanisms and greater transparency in China's legal and detention system; (6) ease religious repression by abolishing the requirement that all religious sites register with the official Religious Affairs Bureau and implementing the 1994 recommendations of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerances; (7) lift Government mandated quotas on the number of monks and nuns in monasteries and nunneries, end the Government's current "reeducation" campaign, and immediately reinstate all monks and nuns expelled from their monasteries for failing to denounce the Dalai Lama; (8) allow access by credible, independent human rights or humanitarian organizations to the nine-year-old boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama; and (9) allow regular, unmonitored access to Tibet and Xinjiiang province of China by independent human rights monitors.

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Who introduced it

Sen. Wellstone, Paul D. [D-MN] · D–MN

Committees

  • Foreign Relations Committee
5 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5617)

  2. Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

  3. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5518-5520)

  4. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

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Source last updated: Jan 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze S.Res.238 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

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Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine S.Res.238 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

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Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine S.Res.238 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

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Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine S.Res.238 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

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