[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3737 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3737
To address Chinese Communist Party efforts to censor the 1989 Tiananmen
Square Massacre, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2025
Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the
Committees on the Judiciary, and House Administration, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To address Chinese Communist Party efforts to censor the 1989 Tiananmen
Square Massacre, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Tiananmen Massacre Transparency and
Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) June 4, 2025, is the 36th anniversary of the brutal
crackdown on peaceful demonstrations for democratic reforms
held on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.
(2) For the past 36 years, the Chinese Communist Party and
the Government of the People's Republic of China has--
(A) censored any mention of the brutal crackdown on
peaceful demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in
central Beijing and in an estimated 400 other cities in
the People's Republic of China;
(B) banned schools from teaching about the pro-
democracy protests of 1989 and their brutal suppression
on June 4th of that year by the People's Liberation
Army (PLA);
(C) blocked internet search terms and removed
content related to the June 4, 1989, crackdown;
(D) disappeared the person known as ``Tank Man''
because of his courageous attempt to stop the advance
of PLA tanks;
(E) prevented the Tiananmen Mother's group from
publicly mourning or remembering their family members
killed during the crackdown;
(F) arbitrarily detained individuals who call for a
full, public, and independent accounting of the
wounded, dead, and imprisoned for participating in the
spring 1989 demonstrations;
(G) supported the Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administration Region's suppression of the
annual Tiananmen vigil which was, until 2020, the only
commemoration allowed on the People's Republic of China
territory;
(H) backed the arrest the organizers and
participants of the annual vigil in Hong Kong,
including Chow Hang-tung, Jimmy Lai, Joshua Wong,
Gwyneth Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan;
(I) supported criminal schemes to silence critics
of the People's Republic of China in the United States
according to Department of Justice indictments,
including seeking to destroy a California sculpture
park that contained statues commemorating the Tiananmen
Massacre and plotting to disrupt the New York political
campaign of a former Tiananmen student leader;
(J) hid the fact that an estimated 1,000,000
people, from all walks of life, including students,
government employees, journalists, workers, police
officers, and members of the Armed Forces called for
democratic reforms in 1989--seeking the elimination of
corruption, accelerated economic and political reforms,
protection of human rights, particularly the freedoms
of expression and assembly--concerns that remain
pertinent in China today; and
(K) never acknowledged the use of excessive force
nor apologized for the deaths and injuries caused by
ordering the armed PLA troops and tanks into Beijing.
(3) The United States Congress took steps, over the past 36
years, to mark the Tiananmen demonstrations and their violent
suppression because of the profound impact the event has had on
United States-People's Republic of Chin relations and because
commemorating Tiananmen was censored and banned in China and
now in Hong Kong.
(4) Section 7031(c) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2024 (Public Law 118-47), as carried forward by Public Law 119-
4, authorizes the Secretary of State to deny entry into the
United States ``officials of foreign governments and their
immediate family members about whom the Secretary of State has
credible information have been involved, directly or
indirectly, in . . . a gross violation of human rights''.
(5) Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act makes inadmissible any foreign person ``whose entry or
proposed activities in the United States the Secretary of State
has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious
adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States''.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) mark the solemn significance of the 1989 demonstrations
and the impact the Tiananmen Massacre has had on United States-
People's Republic of China relations;
(2) create strategies to address the Chinese Communist
Party's censorship and restrictions on the free flow of news
and information that limit what the Chinese people know about
the Party's actions and what the world knows about China;
(3) seek to secure the release of Jimmy Lai and any others
jailed for participating in Tiananmen Massacre vigils;
(4) use existing sanctions authorities to hold accountable
the People's Republic of China officials engaged in censorship
actions, particularly those targeting United States technology
platforms and United States citizens;
(5) protect United States citizens and legal residents,
including those seeking within the United States to commemorate
the Tiananmen Massacre or those publicly calling for democratic
reforms in China, from intimidation or harassment by the
Government of the People's Republic of China or individuals
acting on its behalf;
(6) pursue criminal prosecutions under United States law to
hold accountable the Government of the People's Republic of
China and those individuals acting on its behalf for engaging
in transnational repression targeting United States citizens
and legal residents;
(7) raise in diplomatic exchanges with officials of the
Government of the People's Republic of China, as appropriate,
the economic and strategic benefits for United States-China
relations of transparency and an end to censorship, including
about the Tiananmen Massacre; and
(8) use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States
at the United Nations to--
(A) address censorship and restrictions placed on
the free flow of news and information by the Government
of the People's Republic of China;
(B) condemn the transnational repression campaigns
conducted by the Government of the People's Republic of
China targeting United States citizens and legal
residents; and
(C) seek decisions by the Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention on the cases of individuals
unjustly detained by the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administration Region.
SEC. 4. TIANANMEN MASSACRE EXHIBITION.
It is the sense of Congress that the Librarian of Congress should
work with relevant nongovernment organizations, such as the Victims of
Communism Memorial Foundation and June 4th Memorial Association, to
stage exhibits, in person and online, to showcase the history of the
Tiananmen protests, highlight the stories of Tiananmen Massacre
survivors who are now United States citizens, and demonstrate the
enduring legacy on United States-People's Republic of China relations
of the pro-democracy demonstrations and their violent suppression.
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