Chris Smith: “I thank my good friend. Mr. Speaker, just let me close with a statement of Liu Xiaobo himself. Remember, this was stated…”

“I thank my good friend. Mr. Speaker, just let me close with a statement of Liu Xiaobo himself. Remember, this was stated at his trial in 2009. He said, in pertinent part: I hope that I will be the last victim of China's endless literary inquisitions and that from now on no one will be incriminated because of speech. He went on to say: Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth. To strangle freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, stifle humanity, and suppress truth. He went on to say: There is nothing criminal in anything I have done. If charges are brought against me because of this, I have no complaints. Liu Xiaobo had bogus charges leveled against him, and today he endures 11 years in prison. Today, the Congress stands with the oppressed, all of the oppressed in China, but including and especially Liu Xiaobo. We stand with him and we stand against the oppressor. We are united Democrats, Republicans, liberals, moderates, and conservatives in saying that human rights matter, and we thank the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for naming this outstanding moral leader one of the greatest moral leaders of our time as the 2011 laureate.”