Ted Poe: “China is illegally imprisoning an American citizen, Mrs. Sandy Phan-Gillis. March 19 marked the 2-year anniversary since…”

“China is illegally imprisoning an American citizen, Mrs. Sandy Phan-Gillis. March 19 marked the 2-year anniversary since Sandy illegally was incarcerated by the Chinese Government. Sandy is from Houston, Texas. She has lived there for almost 40 years. She worked tirelessly to improve U.S. relations with China. She believed that closer engagement would improve the lives of both Americans and the Chinese. As a member of the Houston Mayor's International Trade and Development Council, Sandy traveled to China in March 2015 with Houston Mayor Pro Tem Ed Gonzalez. Their purpose was to help a trade mission to promote business between Houston, Texas, and China. It was on this trip when Sandy was unlawfully arrested by China's State Security. The Chinese accused her of being a spy for the FBI. She was thrown into solitary confinement and subjected to torture and relentless questioning. Mr. Speaker, there are worldwide horror stories about Chinese prisons. Sandy was hospitalized twice because of the treatment by China's spy agency while she was incarcerated in China. Sandy suffers from several serious medical conditions. The Chinese threatened to take away her access to medicine, basically threatening to kill her, unless she confessed to being a spy. She even suffered a fear-induced heart attack because of their brutality while she was in custody. Sandy's false imprisonment is a travesty and a farce. Here is a photograph of Sandy before she was imprisoned in China.…”