H.R. 5838

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5838 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5838

To state the policy of the United States with respect to religious 
freedom in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 28, 2025

Mr. Alford (for himself, Mr. Steube, Mr. Crenshaw, and Mr. McCaul) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To state the policy of the United States with respect to religious 
freedom in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Combatting the Persecution of 
Religious Groups in China Act''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

(a) Holding Officials of the People's Republic of China Responsible 
for Religious Freedom Abuses.--It is the policy of the United States to 
consider that any official of the Government of the People's Republic 
of China who is responsible for or has directly carried out abuses of 
religious freedom, including those involving arbitrary detention, 
forced sterilization, torture, forced labor, and serious restrictions 
on freedom of religion or belief, expression, and movement against 
religious minorities, including Protestant Christians, Catholics, 
Buddhists, Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners, in the People's 
Republic of China may have committed a gross violation of 
internationally recognized human rights for purposes of imposing 
sanctions with respect to such official under the Global Magnitsky 
Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
(b) Department of State Programming To Promote Religious Freedom in 
the People's Republic of China.--It is the policy of the United 
States--
(1) that the relevant bureaus of the Department of State, 
including the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, should 
support efforts to promote international religious freedom in 
the People's Republic of China; and
(2) for programs of the Department of State to promote 
religious freedom in the People's Republic of China and monitor 
transnational repression of religious minority groups engaged 
in by the Government of the People's Republic of China.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN 
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

It is the sense of Congress that the United States should promote 
religious freedom in the People's Republic of China by--
(1) designating the People's Republic of China as a country 
of particular concern for religious freedom under section 
402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(ii)) as long as the Government of 
the People's Republic of China continues to engage in 
particularly severe violations of religious freedom (as defined 
in section 3 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 6402));
(2) strengthening diplomacy relating to religious freedom 
on behalf of Christians and other religious minorities facing 
restrictions in the People's Republic of China, including 
through the widespread engagement of international partners to 
combat abuses of religious freedom committed by the Government 
of the People's Republic of China;
(3) raising the cases of religious and political prisoners 
at the highest levels with officials of the People's Republic 
of China;
(4) calling on the Government of the People's Republic of 
China to unconditionally release all unjustly detained 
religious and political prisoners and ensure that detainees who 
have not yet been released are treated humanely with--
(A) access to family, the legal counsel of their 
choice, independent medical care, and international 
monitoring mechanisms; and
(B) the ability to practice their faith while in 
detention; and
(5) encouraging the global faith community to speak in 
solidarity with oppressed religious groups in the People's 
Republic of China.
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