Congressman Frank Wolf Remark on Religious Freedom in China on the Chamber of US House Floor

China Aid Association
Photo: Congressman Wolf met with Chinese House Church believers at his office in May 4 2006
Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I want to just, before I talk on this resolution, mention the one on Tiananmen. I want to be here and have the world know that I stood with the tank man and stood with those who are in prison in Tiananmen.
CHRIS SMITH and I were in Beijing Prison Number 1. I am sure he talked about it. But some of those young men and women are still in prison today, and some of you listening to this are wearing socks or underwear that have been made by them. So I want the world to know, Tiananmen Square demonstrators are still in prison, still in prison.
   Now, on this resolution, I want to express grave disappointment with the Bush administration. I wrote every member of the Bush administration after meeting with dissidents in China and over here, who said, please have the Bush administration come to our church services, the way that they did in the Reagan administration with regard to the Soviet Union. They said, please, we will stand with them. We want someone, someone from the Bush administration to come into a house church. We are tired of seeing the Bush administration going into the churches that are recognized by the Chinese government.
   So I wrote every high appointee in the Bush administration and I asked them would they call the individuals and stand with them, go to their apartments, as we used to do in the 1980s in Moscow with the Sakharovs and the Scharanksys, and in 3 months, not one Bush administration person has taken the time to pick up the telephone and to call the name and the telephone numbers of the individuals.
   What do you get out of the Bush administration? Silence. Silence. We should remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, who said, and I quote, “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” And Dr. King’s statement is so poignant. “In times of trouble, the silence of an enemy is expected, but the silence of a friend is devastating.” I ask the Bush administration to break the silence. Speak out for Riba Qadiri, speak out for the Catholic Church. Speak out for the Evangelical Church. Speak out for those in Tibet who are being persecuted. The young Buddhist nun who came to my office 2 weeks ago had been in the Drapchi prison for 15 years for doing nothing.
   This is a test. I am writing the Bush administration officials again, and I am giving the telephone number to call. I say now, with this opportunity, and I am going to give them the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. Silence should be over. It is now time for the Bush administration to adopt the policies of the Reagan administration, of Ronald Reagan, to stand with the dissidents because by standing next, it is like in government or politics. If somebody says they are really for you, but they don’t want to be identified with you, how much are they really for you?
   How much is the Bush administration really for the Catholic Church in China? How much is the Bush administration really for the Evangelical house church who are putting their lives on the line? How much are they for those who are being persecuted in Tibet? How much are they for the Uighurs? How much for the Falun Gong? And keep in mind, this government is spying against our government much more aggressively than they did in the Soviet Union.
   I close again with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” If the Bush administration wants to be the friends of the dissidents, the silence should be broken. And Clark Randt, our Ambassador in China, should be the first one to begin to break the silence