[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 463 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 463
Expressing condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of
religious minority groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists
and the detention of Pastor ``Ezra'' Jin Mingri and leaders of the Zion
Church, and reaffirming the United States' global commitment to promote
religious freedom and tolerance.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2025
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Graham,
Mr. Grassley, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Justice, Mr. Scott of
Florida, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wicker, and Mrs.
Shaheen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
November 7, 2025
Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to with an
amended preamble
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of
religious minority groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists
and the detention of Pastor ``Ezra'' Jin Mingri and leaders of the Zion
Church, and reaffirming the United States' global commitment to promote
religious freedom and tolerance.
Whereas, on October 10, 2025, international news outlets reported that the
Chinese Communist Party (referred to in this preamble as the ``CCP'')
detained Pastor ``Ezra'' Jin Mingri, who is the founder of Zion Church,
from his home in Guangxi Province, China;
Whereas CCP authorities also arrested nearly 30 other pastors and church members
from Zion Church;
Whereas 23 members of Zion Church remain in detention centers, while other
members have been released on bail, and still others are being harassed
and intimidated by Chinese authorities;
Whereas the CCP's actions mark the largest coordinated, nationwide crackdown
against an unregistered Christian house church network in more than 40
years;
Whereas thousands of Zion Church members and millions of Christians and other
religious adherents who reside in the People's Republic of China seek to
peacefully worship God and care for their neighbors without the threat
or fear of persecution;
Whereas the imprisonment of Pastor Jin is the latest instance of CCP persecution
of a large number of religious minorities, including Christians, Muslim
Uyghurs, Hui Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists;
Whereas, since coming to power in 2012, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping has
escalated a campaign to ``sinicize'' religion in China by--
(1) allowing authorities to burn bibles, imprison believers, and tear
down Christian crosses; and
(2) forcing religious organizations and adherents to conform to the
ideology of the CCP;
Whereas, under the policy of sinicizing religion, the Government of China has--
(1) ordered the removal of crosses from Catholic and Protestant
churches;
(2) censored religious texts;
(3) imposed CCP-approved religious materials;
(4) replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of
Xi Jinping; and
(5) instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology;
Whereas, in 2021, the Trump administration determined the CCP--
(1) had committed crimes against humanity and genocide against
predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious
minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz; and
(2) has continued to subject religious minority groups in China to
restrictions on religious practices and freedom of expression, arbitrary
imprisonment, forced sterilization torture, and forced labor;
Whereas the CCP has made consistent efforts to erode the religious, linguistic,
and cultural identity of Tibetans, including by--
(1) closing Buddhist monasteries and limiting entry or practitioners;
(2) forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining Tibetans for
practicing their religious beliefs;
(3) censoring religious content online; and
(4) expanding the use of boarding schools to indoctrinate children in
CCP-approved curricula and Mandarin Chinese;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998 (Public Law 105-292), which established, as the official policy of
the United States--
(1) to condemn violations of religious freedom;
(2) to promote, and assist other governments in the promotion of, the
fundamental right to freedom of religion;
(3) to stand for liberty and with the persecuted;
(4) to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States foreign
policy apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, charitable,
educational, and cultural channels; and
(5) to promote respect for religious freedom by all governments and
peoples;
Whereas, under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom has designated the
People's Republic of China as a ``country of particular concern for
religious freedom'' every year since 1999;
Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf International Religious
Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281) in 2016 to enhance the capabilities of
the United States to advance religious liberty globally through
diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance;
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of
title XII of Public Law 114-328), enacted by Congress in 2016, gives the
President the authority to impose targeted sanctions on individuals
responsible for committing human rights violations;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is a signatory to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris on December 10, 1948, and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted in New
York on December 19, 1966, which recognize freedom of religion as an
internationally-recognized human right;
Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
explicitly states that citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy
freedom of religious belief; and
Whereas the United States must show strong international leadership when it
comes to the advancement of religious freedoms, liberties, and
protections: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) strongly condemns the Chinese Communist Party's
persecution of religious minority groups, including Pastor
``Ezra'' Jin Mingri and other leaders and members of Zion
Church and other faith communities;
(2) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to
promote religious freedom and tolerance around the world and to
help provide protection and relief to religious minorities
facing persecution and violence;
(3) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of
all detained members of Zion Church, including Pastor Jin, and
all other wrongfully detained religious practioners in China;
(4) calls for the Government of the People's Republic of
China to cease its harassment and intimidation of the relatives
of Zion Church members and their relatives, including tactics
of transnational repression overseas;
(5) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of
China to release all other arbitrarily detained religious
believers, including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and
other Christians; and
(6) demands that the Government of the People's Republic of
China--
(A) respect the internationally recognized human
right to freedom of religion or belief; and
(B) end all forms of violence and discrimination
against religious minority groups and entities.
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