Frank Wolf

Mr. WOLF

Mr. WOLF. The gentleman's concern, and the gentleman is a very good Member, and I appreciate when he speaks a lot of times in committee. I agree with him, and not only do I agree in my conscience, I vote with him, and sometimes I even speak for him. But it is an issue here of going to the groups that are involved, and I will put a copy of the article in the Record, but the two that I mention, and to give them the support whereby they would do these things. I can't speak for other people, but I think it would be wrong. June 21, 2007 Cases of Forced Abortions Surface in China (By Louisa Lim) MORNING EDITION, APRIL 23, 2007.--During the past week, dozens of women in southwest China have been forced to have abortions even as late as nine months into the pregnancy, according to evidence uncovered by NPR. China's strict family planning laws permit urban married couples to have only one child each, but in some of the recent cases--in Guangxi Province--women say they were forced to abort what would have been their first child because they were unmarried. The forced abortions are all the more shocking because family planning laws have generally been relaxed in China, with many families having two children. Liang Yage and his wife Wei Linrong had one child and believed that--like many other couples--they could pay a fine and keep their second baby. Wei was 7 months pregnant when 10 family planning officials visited her at home on April 16. Liang describes how they told her that she would have to have an abortion: ``You don't have any more room for maneuver,'' he says they told her. ``If you don't go [to the hospital], we'll carry you.'' The couple was then driven to Youjiang district maternity hospital in Baise city. ``I was scared,'' Wei told NPR. ``The hospital was full of women who'd been brought in forcibly. There wasn't a single spare bed. The family planning people said forced abortions and forced sterilizations were both being carried out. We saw women being pulled in one by one.'' The couple was given a consent agreement to sign. When Liang refused, family planning officials signed it for him. He and his wife are devout Christians--he is a pastor--and they don't agree with abortion. The officials gave Wei three injections in the lower abdomen. Contractions started the next afternoon, and continued for almost 16 hours. Her child was stillborn. ``I asked the doctor if it was a boy or girl,'' Wei said. ``The doctor said it was a boy. My friends who were beside me said the baby's body was completely black. I felt desolate, so I didn't look up to see the baby.'' Medical sources say fetuses aborted in this manner would have been dead for some time, so the tissue is necrotic and thus dark in color. ``The nurses dealt with the body like it was rubbish,'' Wei said. ``They wrapped it up in a black plastic bag and threw it in the trash.'' This was also the treatment given to the stillborn baby of He Caigan. Family planning officials turned up at her house, in the countryside several hours outside Baise, before dawn on April 17 to force her to go to the hospital. This would have been her first baby--but she hadn't married the father, in contravention of family planning laws. She was already 9 months pregnant, just days away from delivery. ``They told me I'm too young, I couldn't keep the child and I should have an abortion,'' she said. ``I'm too young to get a marriage certificate--I'm only 19 and my boyfriend's only 21.'' After the forced abortion, her boyfriend left her. She said that she's still in great physical pain and that her life had been ruined. An eyewitness, who requested anonymity for fear of the consequences, said that he counted 41 occupied beds on just one floor of the maternity hospital in Baise and that he believed none of the women he saw had come to the hospital of their own free will. Coerced abortions such as these were not unusual after China's one-child policy was first introduced in 1980. But a law passed five years ago guarantees China's citizens a degree of choice in family matters. When contacted for comment, an official at China's State Commission for Population and Family Planning said she'd heard nothing about forced abortions in Guangxi and asked for more details. But in Baise, a family planning official surnamed Nong acknowledged that such behavior would violate regulations. Despite the fact that these allegations refer to events that happened just within the last week, he said an investigation had already been held. ``We were very surprised to hear of these accusations,'' Nong said, ``but our investigation concluded some individuals who were dissatisfied with our family planning policies were fabricating stories. These facts simply don't exist. We really love and care for women here.'' Official figures published by the Xinhua news agency shed some light on why a forced abortion campaign might be judged necessary. They show that the Baise government missed its family planning targets last year. The recorded birth rate was 13.61 percent, slightly higher than the goal of 13.5 percent. This is significant because the career prospects of local officials depend upon meeting these goals. Wei Linrong and her husband Liang Yage, were incensed by their treatment, seeing it as little short of murder. ``I think their methods are too cruel,'' said Wei, ``my heart really hurts. Such a tiny baby, it was innocent. And they killed it.'' ``Every time we talk about this child, we both cry,'' Liang added. ``We can't bear talking about this child.'' Liang and his wife risked further official disapproval by contacting a Christian group overseas to publicize their plight. China may once have depended on its state apparatus of control and fear to silence those who suffer human rights abuses at the hands of its officials. But China's victims are angry, and they want their voices to be heard.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence). (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WOLF. Reclaiming my time, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment and in support of the committee's language. In fact, I think the language is very moderate, perhaps even, from my own perspective, a little bit too moderate because I think we could have put some other conditions on it. Ayman Nour is still in prison. I visited Ayman Nour's wife. He is still in prison. He is not very, very well. We have interceded on his behalf, the Congress and everyone else. But Ayman Nour is still in prison. The Coptic Christians. The life of the Coptic Christians is worse today than it has been for a long while. So if you're a Coptic Christian in Egypt, you're in trouble. For the Baha'is, the Baha'is in Egypt just live the most miserable life that you can possibly live. They are not even recognized. They cannot even get a card for a driver's license. They are a nonentity. They are not even there. They are not. So they can't move. They can't do anything. There is anti-Semitic and anti-Christian editorials and cartoons in their newspapers. Just look at what they say. The government controls those newspapers. So if a government controls a newspaper and anti- Semitism and anti-Christian language is in there, does that not mean that someone in the government is saying that? Also, the language is moderate. They gunned down the Sudanese. I was there shortly after they gunned down the Sudanese. There are many Sudanese that live there, and they gunned them down. There is police brutality. The Gaza. The gentleman, Mr. Lantos, was right with regard to the Gaza. They have a powerful military. They could be doing much, much more. Egypt is a great nation. It is a great nation. They are great people. They are our friends. But friends have to be honest with friends. Mr. Obey was exactly right. We have given them, Mr. Obey would have this figure better than I would, over $15 billion. Martin Luther King said, in the end, we will remember not the words that were of our enemies but the silence of our friend. As a friend, for us not to speak out on this issue, we would be derelict in our duty. We would be derelict in our duty. So, Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, and in support of it, and would say to the gentlewoman, the Chairwoman, it would have sent a very refreshing message if one of the other conditionalities had been with regard to the Coptic Christians, who are very patriotic people in Egypt and who love their country and who always speak proudly of their country and who always honor their country; and also if we had conditionality language with regard to the Baha'is. But I think Mr. Obey is right. I agree with the Chairwoman. I would hope that we would defeat the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) for a brief discussion on the issue of the persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Mr. WOLF. I thank the chairman of the committee and thank the gentleman from Arizona.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentleman, and I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia Beach, Mrs. Drake.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, and I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak).

Mr. WOLF. Reclaiming my time, if I may, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to just yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. I know it has been accepted, but this is an important amendment. My father was a policeman for 20 years in the city of Philadelphia. If a country isn't prepared to send somebody back, then we ought to do what the gentleman from Texas said. We ought to deny them the visa. And I will push for this when we get to conference. I think this is a good amendment. We just can't go to all these meetings and say we love our police officers and we honor them and then all of a sudden we walk away from them. The gentleman is exactly right. Let's pass this. I appreciate its being accepted. But I think we ought to pass it because they think we are a patsy. We also had a young man in my district who was run over and killed around Christmastime. And the guy left and went back to El Salvador, and that family hurts, are in pain every day, and they can't get this guy back. So I think if there is any deficiency in it, it probably ought to cover every felon but at least peace officers. So it is a good amendment, and it has been accepted. But, frankly, I think we should have asked for a roll call vote to get every Member on record for it. But since it has been accepted, let's keep it in the bill.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) to finish her speech.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. WOLF. I am not opposed to the amendment. I am for the amendment. So I will strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. WOLF. Reclaiming my time, perhaps the amendment really doesn't go far enough in the sense that to do something that really matters, there is a real concern that many American Ambassadors to Saudi Arabia are now out working for the Saudi Government. And I have an amendment that we're trying to get through the Rules Committee. Mr. Lantos and I are working on asking various groups to look into this. There are actually, I understand, CIA station chiefs, American CIA station chiefs who were station chiefs in Saudi Arabia that may be now working for the Saudis. The Saudis funded the madrassas up along the Pakistan-Afghan border. There were 15 Saudis on the aircraft, one of them went into the Pentagon and killed 30 people from my congressional district. The first person killed in Afghanistan was Michael Spann, a CIA agent from my district, because of the activities of the Saudis. The Saudis are funding anti-Semitic, anti-Christian activities in some of the schools. This is Wahhabism. I've been kind of shocked. This is a milquetoast amendment. This is a weak amendment. There should be something really strong to get control of this Wahhabism that is spreading. So, yes, let's pass it. But I would hope the next time we really do something that really can make a difference because this is dangerous. Had they not funded those madrassas, frankly maybe what took place on 9/11 may have never taken place. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment for three reasons. One, I would hope in the next Congress we have a Republican Speaker, and so I wouldn't want to see that side limit our Speaker. That is number one. Number two, Senator Sam Brownback and I were one of the first ones to go to Darfur. I wish more Members would go to Darfur. I think it is genocide. I think one of the problems is that this place hasn't moved fast enough because people haven't seen it. They couldn't smell it. They just couldn't feel it. And so to say you couldn't go to Darfur where there is a genocide taking place now is just not a good idea. I have been to Sudan five times. Certainly you couldn't limit the Speaker to go some place that I, as a lowly Member, could go to. The third reason is that I was one of the Members who went to Syria. Now, I am not a weak person. I used to go to the Soviet Union during the days of Communism and speak out for the dissidents. Chris Smith and I went into Perm Camp 35 and interviewed Sharansky's cellmate and did a lot of things that really made a difference. When I went to Syria, here is what I said to Assad. With me was Robert Aderholt, not exactly a liberal Member of the House; Joe Pitts, again, God bless him, a very conservative Member of the House, a good person. Here is what we said to Assad four times, and it was good that he heard it. I said it twice, and Mr. Pitts said it once, and Mr. Aderholt said it once. We said, one, stop allowing foreign fighters to come and transit your border. I am not saying it is because of our effort, but 2 weeks after that, the Commanding General in Afghanistan said that the foreign fighters had slowed down. They actually saw the results. Secondly, Israel's right to exist. Assad should have heard Members. More Members should go tell Assad, Israel has the right to exist. Thirdly, I said stop supporting Hezbollah and Hamas. We were 4 feet from him. We looked at him directly in the eye and said no more support. We know and they know where Hamas and Hezbollah have their offices. They're in Damascus. Lastly, we said to them with regard to this, stop interfering in Lebanon's right to exist. So, I am of the mind, and I may be in the minority of my party, I take the Ronald Reagan approach. Ronald Reagan, when he called the Soviet Union the evil empire, his greatest speech was to the National Association of Evangelicals, Orlando, Florida, 1983. He called them the evil empire. But as he called them the evil empire, he sent people out to talk. If you recall his speech he gave at Danilov Monastery, where he talked about freedom, Gorbachev was there. Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviets because he went and engaged, not in weakness. He put the Cruise Missiles in in Europe in 1983 when people complained. But he was able to do it. So, one, I hope we have a Republican Speaker, and I would hope everyone on our side agrees when we have a Republican Speaker in the next Congress. Two, I went to Sudan. I think everybody in this body ought to go to Sudan. They ought to go to Darfur. Maybe it was because of the failure of people to go to Rwanda. Maybe that wouldn't have taken place. Lastly, intellectually it would be impossible to say this was a good idea if I was one of the ones that went. I think by going I served the interests of our Government. I was criticized. I had people criticize me. But I thought it was good that Assad heard that. Lastly, I met with the leading dissident in Syria, and I said, ``Should we put your name in our release?'' And he said, ``Please, put my name in.'' Sharansky used to tell us, ``When you spoke out for me, when you said things for me, my life got better.'' This dissident said, ``Mention my name. Mention my name. I will stand with you,'' because, he said, ``nobody else is coming to meet with me and stand with me.'' We stood with him, and when we left Syria, after we left, the Syrian Government criticized us for the tone of what they thought we said. But, God bless, I would hope that every Member of this body would go to Syria and sit down with Assad and say, stop the foreign fighters; Israel's right to exist; stop the support for Hezbollah and Hamas; and stop messing around in Lebanon and let these people who want freedom to have freedom. For that reason, I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.