TJ Cox: “for nearly 20 years the Chinese Government has sought to silence one of the great advocates of human freedom and…”

“for nearly 20 years the Chinese Government has sought to silence one of the great advocates of human freedom and democracy, Wei Jingsheng. Wei recently published a book. It is out today. Viking Press has produced it. It consists largely of his letters from prison, where he has spent so much of his adult life, where he is today, assembled by people who believe in human rights around the world. The publication of this book in America has today prompted the Communist Chinese Government to say that we, by publishing Wei's book, are interfering with the independence of China's judiciary. Wei Jingsheng is not a well man. He suffers from life-threatening heart disease. He has a neck problem that prevents him from lifting his head. All of this has developed as a result of the abysmal conditions that he faces in prison, where he was recently sentenced to another 14 years. He is due to be released in the year 2009, if he lives that long. I hope all of us in Congress will remember Wei Jingsheng, buy his book and read it, as we deliberate on the important questions of human freedom that are before us today.”