Proposed
Bill · 119th Congress · HR 5303
FREEDOM for Gao Zhisheng and All Political Prisoners Act
Refreshed 5 h ago
Introduced 2025-09-11Topic: civil rights · criminal justice · governance ethicsSummary
AI-generated summary, report an errorThis bill states that U.S. policy is to press foreign governments, especially China and Hong Kong, to release political prisoners, including human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. It says officials responsible for arbitrary detention or torture of political prisoners may face U.S. sanctions under existing laws. Within 120 days, the Secretary of State must brief certain congressional committees on a strategy to make political prisoner advocacy part of the work of U.S. agencies and diplomatic posts. The bill expands an existing State Department registry of political prisoners in China to cover political prisoners held by foreign governments worldwide. It also directs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to prepare issue briefs on political prisoner cases for Members of Congress on request.
Sponsors
- Christopher H. Smith Republican sponsor
- 2 cosponsors
Action history
| Date | Chamber | Action | Status effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-11 | House | Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | refer |
| 2025-09-11 | House | Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | refer |
| 2025-09-11 | House | Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | refer |
| 2025-09-11 | House | Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | refer |
| 2025-09-11 | Introduced in House | introduce | |
| 2025-09-11 | Introduced in House | introduce |