Chris Smith: “I, like many in the House and the Senate, want to thank President Trump for requesting on numerous occasions that Xi…”

“I, like many in the House and the Senate, want to thank President Trump for requesting on numerous occasions that Xi Jinping release Jimmy Lai and other women and men who are gravely sick and unjustly incarcerated. It is not largely known, but hundreds of innocent Americans languish in Chinese prisons today, including Nelson Wells of New Orleans and Dawn Michelle Hunt from Chicago. At a hearing that I chaired in September of 2024, Bringing Home Americans Detained in China, we heard heartbreaking stories from their families and their loved ones. According to the Foley Foundation, more United States nationals are wrongfully detained in China than in any other country. I have introduced legislation to create a comprehensive strategy to try to obtain their release. H. Res. 1259 speaks to this issue of unjustly detained individuals. It is about Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of the Zion Church, detained and denied needed medical care. It is about Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu, detained for peaceful religious leadership. It is about Gulshan Abbas, serving a 20-year sentence because her sister, Rushan Abbas, dared to tell Congress the truth about the CCP's genocide against the Uyghurs.”