“I’ll keep working to shine a light on China’s threats, impose consequences on their malign actions, foster partnerships with NATO and other allies, and help build up an alternative to China’s predatory Belt and Road influence.”

Washington D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Lead Republican Michael McCaul spoke on the House Floor in remembrance of the victims and violent suppression of democracy protests on the 30th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square and in support of H.Res 393, a resolution calling for a just and open accounting for the Tiananmen massacre, and to condemn serious, ongoing human rights violations by Communist China.

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-Opening Remarks as Delivered-

“Thank you, Madame Speaker.

“I’d like to associate myself with the Speaker Pelosi’s comments about how we’ve been riding the dragon for too long. 

“Thirty years ago today, the so-called People’s Liberation Army turned their guns on the people of China, killing hundreds – and possibly thousands – of unarmed civilians in Beijing. 

“Many were Chinese students who had been peacefully protesting for reform, democratic transparency, and respect for fundamental human rights, but victims included young children and people in their 60s, cut down by indiscriminate gunfire.

“The dramatic days of May and June 1989 left the world with many indelible images:

  • “The huge expanse of Tiananmen Square packed with hundreds of thousands of people rallying for freedom;
  • “The 30-foot-tall “Goddess of Democracy” statue built by Beijing art students in the center of the Square;
  • “The rush of tanks and armored personnel carriers into the area to quite literally crush the protests and protesters on June 4th;
  • “The heroism the next day of someone the world knows only as the “Tank Man,” who halted an entire column of Chinese army tanks, armed only with shopping bags and resolve.

“But those indelible images are hidden from the people of China by the Communist regime that inherited the bloody mantle of Tiananmen.  Hiding behind the Great Firewall, the Chinese government refuses to allow any reckoning with that history, and fiercely quashes discussion, whether online or in public.

“Obsessed with control, it uses its massive Orwellian apparatus to try to erase the events of June 1989 from the memory of the world.

“But, as John Adams once wrote, “Facts are stubborn things.”  So too are the memories of the many Chinese who experienced those events up close.

“Western journalists on the ground during the massacre reported that people on the streets of Beijing pleaded with them to tell the world what had happened there.  Today’s resolution is a continuation of that sacred charge.

“I want to thank all the bipartisan authors of House Resolution 393, Mr. McGovern, for giving this House a renewed opportunity to testify to the true events of June 1989, to call for a just and open accounting for the Tiananmen massacre, and to condemn serious, ongoing human rights violations by the Government of China.

“Dictators need to understand that freedom can only be held back for a finite amount of time.  They may succeed in crushing a democratic protest but they will always fail to crush the democratic spirit. 

“I am proud to stand with the people of China who want to break the chains of communist oppression.  I urge support for this resolution, and reserve the balance of my time.”

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-Closing Remarks as Delivered-

“Madame Speaker, I must say, at a time when the American people see this Congress so divided its refreshing for the American people to see the Congress so united with one voice standing up for good over evil. 

We must keep the memory of Tiananmen alive. As Secretary Pompeo said yesterday, “China’s one-party state tolerates no dissent and abuses human rights wherever and whenever it serves its interests.”

“Today, their Party’s methods are more subtle than rolling tanks in – but no less horrifying.

“The Communist party deprives one fifth of mankind of fundamental human rights.  It has imprisoned up to 3 million Muslims in what the Department of Defense has called and labeled “concentration camps.” It is seeking to spread its totalitarian ideology and repression along its physical and digital One Belt One Road Initiative.

“In the Foreign Affairs Committee, I know I and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will keep working to shine a light on China’s threats, impose consequences on their malign actions, foster partnerships with NATO and other allies, and help build up an alternative to China’s predatory Belt and Road influence.

“So with that, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, to honor the memory of those who have sacrificed for freedom – and to remain clear-eyed about the nature of our adversary. 

“With that Madame Speaker, I yield back.”

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