Mr. Speaker, I have a petition regarding Falun Gong, which is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that consists of meditation, exercises, and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
In 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide persecution campaign to eradicate Falun Gong. Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested, put in custody, and many sentenced to long prison terms of up to 20 years, where torture and abuse are routine, and tens of thousands are feared dead as a result.
Petitioners are calling on us, in a public way, to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.