WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered remarks on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to pass the bipartisan Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, legislation he co-sponsored that supports pro-democracy dissidents in Hong Kong. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, includes a provision of a bipartisan bill Sen. Cruz introduced to amend the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to require the administration to evaluate and report on how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exploits Hong Kong to circumvent the laws of the United States.
On the Senate floor, Sen. Cruz said:
“Today we have the opportunity to tell the world these blatant human rights attacks and this campaign to bully Hong Kong into submission are not okay, and America won’t stand for it.
“Last month, I traveled to Hong Kong. I met with many brave men and women who are standing up. I met with the dissidents, the pro-democracy protestors who are speaking out for Hong Kong’s autonomy and free speech and basic human rights. Along with them, I dressed in all black to express my solidarity with the peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets.”
He concluded:
“The people in Hong Kong are engaged in an existential battle for liberty and they should know […] that the people of America stand with Hong Kong.”
Sen. Cruz has long advocated for the U.S. to stand firm in supporting those resisting the oppression of the Chinese Communist Party.
- In July, Sen. Cruz introduced legislation, the Targeting Invasive Autocratic Networks & Necessary Mandatory Export Notifications Act of 2019 or the TIANANMEN Act of 2019 (S.2386), which requires the administration to blacklist Chinese companies that enable the Chinese Communist Party to conduct mass surveillance and oppression of predominantly Muslim religious minorities in Xinjiang. Last month, the administration implemented the parts of Sen. Cruz’s legislation requiring the blacklisting.
- In October, as one of the first U.S. senators to visit Hong Kong since the protests began, Sen. Cruz met with pro-democracy activists, dissidents, and protest leaders and expressed his support for those fighting to protect Hong Kong’s autonomy, free speech, and basic human rights.
- Following his visit to Hong Kong, Sen. Cruz wrote an op-ed in USA Today urging Americans and American companies to stand against the Chinese Communist Party censorship, oppression and human rights atrocities.
- More recently, Sen. Cruz wrote an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News recognizing the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and America’s powerful legacy of supporting freedom fighters and combatting the evils of tyranny around the world, where he said, “Today, Hong Kong is the new Berlin.”
Sen. Cruz’s full remarks may be viewed here and below:
“Madam President today brave men and women [and] boys and girls are standing up and demanding that the Chinese Communist Party protect Hong Kong’s autonomy, protect free speech, and defend human rights. Despite these peaceful protests, the Chinese Communist Party is fighting back with brutality and violence. The police brutality that we’ve seen and the […] Chinese Communist Party’s larger assault on the people of Hong Kong has been shameful. Just this past weekend, the Hong Kong police began attacking young, innocent students who were peacefully protesting that brutality.
“They were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets. These students’ college campus was turned into a war zone where no one was safe. And today we have the opportunity to tell the world these blatant human rights attacks and this campaign to bully Hong Kong into submission are not okay, and America won’t stand for it.
“Last month, I traveled to Hong Kong. I met with many brave men and women who are standing up. I met with the dissidents, the pro-democracy protestors who are speaking out for Hong Kong’s autonomy and free speech and basic human rights. Along with them, I dressed in all black to express my solidarity with the peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets.
“Right now in response to that protest, tear gas, sponge grenades, rubber bullets are being fired at university campuses in Hong Kong. In Shin Jiang province, millions of detained Uyghurs and other religious minorities are languishing in concentration camps. And across China, Falun Gong practitioners are captured and murdered, so that the Communist Party can harvest their organs.
“Freedom from the brutality and the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party is the battle cry of the dissidents in Hong Kong.
“What have they been waving? American flags. And what have they been singing? The American National Anthem. Reciting quotations from our Founding Fathers, who risked everything for freedom in America.
“Madam, President, I want to thank Senators Rubio and Cardin. I want to thank Senator Risch and Senator Menendez and all of the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, both Republicans and Democrats who have joined together. This legislation the Senate is preparing to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act as important legislation. It is bipartisan legislation. I urge the House to take it up and pass it and pass it promptly.
“The people in Hong Kong are engaged in an existential battle for liberty and they should know and they will know by our actions in just a few moments that the people of America stand with Hong Kong.”