Statement by Ohio Congressman James A. Traficant, Jr.

Congress of the United States

House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515-3517

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Statement by the Honorable James A. Traficant, Jr.

On the Occasion of the Ohio Falun Dafa Practitioners' 360-Mile SOS Walk for Justice

September 4, 2001

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I would like to congratulate the practitioners of the Falun Dafa for their courage and commitment to their beliefs and for openly demonstrating the need for public scrutiny of the Chinese government's abuse of the followers of Falun Dafa.

I, as well as many other, have tried to remain outspoken about my opposition to the suppression of Falun Dafa ideals and principles in China, yet the communist dictatorship there seems to think that the world is not paying any attention to its brutality. Well, I can tell the communist leaders in Beijing that the world IS watching, and that we will not continue to tolerate the wrongful imprisonment, torture, and execution of Falun Dafa practitioners. I am sure you are aware of the statistics, but let me repeat a few of them so that the Chinese government will know that the world knows what is really going on.

• As of August 31^st, 2001, 272 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed in police custody as a result of torture or abuse. To me, that's the same thing as execution.
• More than 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained.
• More than 20,000 have been sent to labor camps without trial, and some have been sentenced to as many as 18 years in prison.
• More than 1000 members have been abused in mental hospitals.

It's important to remember that these numbers are estimates, and are probably much higher.

I again want to commend the courage and bravery of the practitioners of Falun Dafa, and I call on the communist government of China to stop its mistreatment of the practitioners of Falun Gong in China. I also call on the Chinese government to release the 130 Falun Gong practitioners who are on a hunger strike in the Masanjia Labor Camp, and I also call on the Chinese government to release Dr. Teng Chunyan. Finally, you may be assured that I will not vote to extend any preferential trade status, or give any preferential treatment, to the People's Republic of China as long as its leaders do not recognize basic human rights.

I wish you great success in your future endeavors.

God Bless!

Signature

James A. Traficant Jr.