(Clearwisdom.net, Aug. 18, 2003) The Texas Branch of "Coast to Coast Drive to Rescue Charles Li" was ready to start off, and Falun Gong practitioners in Texas held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Houston on the afternoon of Aug. 16. They called for kind people to help rescue Charles Li from a Chinese prison and to help stop the cruel persecution of Falun Dafa and its practitioners in China. The press conference attracted local media's attention. News reporters were sent to collect detailed reports.

It has been eight months since American Falun Gong practitioner Dr. Charles Li was illegally detained on a visit to China in January 2003. According to the latest information, Dr. Li has been subject to cruel persecution in jail for refusing to give up practicing Falun Gong. The tortures used on him have escalated.

In order to rescue Charles Li and to stop the persecution as soon as possible, the Global Rescue Team in the U.S. proposed and coordinated this "Rescue Month" around the United States from Aug. 13 to Sept. 13.

Falun Gong practitioners in Texas will participate in this "Rescue Drive" around the United States by starting from Houston, Texas and touring Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Along the way, they will collect signatures from the public, accept interviews from media and visit local government officials. By clarifying the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong to city governments, media and society along the way, they are calling for kind people to pay attention to Chinese government's persecution of Dr. Li and to help him return to his home in the U.S. as soon as possible.