Falun Gong Protection Act is a proposed sanctions law that targets forced organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The core idea is to identify and sanction foreign individuals who knowingly engage in or facilitate involuntary organ harvesting in China, with the aim of pressuring the Chinese government to end state-sponsored practices and to raise international attention to Falun Gong persecution. The bill requires the President to compile and regularly update a list of those responsible, and to impose a suite of punitive measures—including asset blocking and visa prohibitions—on those on the list. It also mandates a comprehensive report on China’s organ transplant policies, the relationship to Falun Gong prisoners, and related U.S. funding, and it provides various exemptions, waivers, and a five-year sunset. The act explicitly seeks to coordinate with allies and multilateral bodies and to avoid cooperation with China in organ transplantation while the Chinese Communist Party remains in power.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a sanctions regime under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to target foreign individuals who knowingly engage in involuntary organ harvesting in the PRC, with a dynamically updated list submitted to Congress.
- 2Sanctions include blocking property in the United States, visa ineligibility and revocation, and other penalties equivalent to unlawful acts under IEEPA; these measures apply to property within or under control of U.S. persons.
- 3Humanitarian and national-security exemptions: sanctions do not apply to certain humanitarian, agricultural, food, medicine, or essential humanitarian-financial transactions and activities; US intelligence or law enforcement activities are exempt.
- 4Waiver and sunset: the President can waive sanctions on a case-by-case basis for vital national security reasons; the sanctions authority terminates five years after enactment unless renewed; Congress receives regular reports on waiver use.
- 5Mandates a Congressional-required report within one year on PRC organ transplant policies, including sources of organs, transplant numbers, donor data, government funding of related research, and whether Falun Gong persecution constitutes an “atrocity” under existing genocide-prevention law, with unclassified content and possible classified annex.