The House voted 413-2 Monday in favor of a measure to sanction China’s trade in human organs.
An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 young adults are killed annually by Chinese authorities for their organs, Rep. Chris Smith, New Jersey Republican, said on the House floor before the vote.
The victims include Uyghurs from northwest China and practitioners of Falun Gong, a movement outlawed by the government of Xi Jinping, he said.
Only two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — voted against the measure. Neither representative’s office answered their phones after the vote, and The Washington Times has contacted each via email for comment.
Mr. Massie said in an email that he objected to the “unilateral broad authority to sanction individuals and politicians without any adjudication or due process” contained in the bill. He also expressed concern about the potential for action against “anyone who receives or offers compensation for an organ donation.”
Ms. Greene’s office did not offer a comment after the vote. The Washington Times has contacted her staff via email requesting comment.
Mr. Smith said government officials are sometimes personal beneficiaries of the harvesting.
“We also know though open-source Chinese language media that elderly high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials have received replacement organs from the very people they despise and oppress at the People’s Liberation Army Hospital 301 in Beijing,” he said.
The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 will require reports on forced organ harvesting and trafficking overseas, particularly in China.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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