On the occasion of the Human Rights Touch Relay arriving in the State of Colorado, the State Senate and House of Representatives jointly passed the following resolution to declare their support for the Human Rights Torch Relay campaign and proclaim April 2008 to be Human Rights Torch Relay Month in Colorado. The resolution pointed out: "There are reports that the Chinese regime sells illegally harvested vital body organs from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience."
BY SENATOR(S) Perry, Bacon, Boyd, Brophy, Harvey, Kester, McElhany, Mitchell S., Renfroe, Romer, Schultheis, Spence, Tapia, Tochtrop, Wiens, Cadman, Gibbs, Gordon, Groff, Hagedorn, Isgar, Johnson, Keller, Kopp, Morse, Sandoval, Schwartz, Shaffer, Takis, Taylor, Tupa, Veiga, Ward, Williams, and Windels; also
REPRESENTATIVE(S) Todd, Balmer, Benefield, Borodkin, Buescher, Carroll M., Carroll T., Casso, Curry, Ferrandino, Fischer, Frangas, Gagliardi, Gallegos, Gardner B., Gardner C., Garza-Hicks, Green, Hodge, Jahn, Kefalas, Kerr A., Kerr J., King, Labuda, Lambert, Levy, Liston, Looper, Lundberg, Marostica, Marshall, Massey, May M., McFadyen, McGihon, McNulty, Merrifield, Middleton, Mitchell V., Peniston, Primavera, Rice, Roberts, Romanoff, Rose, Scanlan, Solano, Sonnenberg, Soper, Stafford, Stephens, Summers, Swalm, Vaad, White, Witwe, Butcher, McKinley, and Pommer.
Whereas, The Chinese communist regime has been granted the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing with the provision that the nation improve its treatment of Chinese citizens; and
Whereas, Human rights violations have reportedly increased in China since this honor was granted; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime imprisons millions of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, practitioners of Falun Gong, democracy advocates, labor organizers, lawyers, journalists, environmental activists, political dissidents, and other innocent citizens in slave labor camps without trial; and
Whereas, There are reports that the Chinese regime sells illegally harvested vital body organs from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime continues to occupy Tibet and attempt to erase the cultures of Tibetans and Uighur Muslims; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime forces women to have abortions, even in the third trimester of pregnancy, to enforce the "one child per family" rule; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime supports the dictatorships in Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe, and North Korea in perpetuating slaughter upon their citizens; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime prohibits freedom of religion, and those who practice their faith and beliefs in underground churches are arrested, imprisoned, and persecuted; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime prohibits freedom of speech, controls the population with private and public surveillance, and censors information on the Internet; and
Whereas, The Chinese regime prohibits freedom of the press and imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world; and
Whereas, The Olympic Charter calls for the Olympic games to represent "respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" and "the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity" and states that "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, gender or otherwise is inconsistent with membership in the Olympic Movement"; and
Whereas, The Human Rights Torch Relay is an international campaign that seeks to bring an end to all human rights abuses against the people of China and is dedicated to ending human rights abuses by the Chinese communist regime, to reestablishing the mandate of the Olympic Charter, and to preserving the true Olympic spirit; now, therefore
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-sixth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, declare our support for the Human Rights Torch Relay campaign and proclaim April 2008 to be Human Rights Torch Relay Month in Colorado.
Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Joint Resolution be sent to the Honorable Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State, with a request that the resolution be displayed at the office of the Secretary on behalf of the people of Colorado, and sent to His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States.
Peter C. Groff
President of the Senate
Andrew Romanoff
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Karen Goldman
Secretary of the Senate
Marilyn Eddins
Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives
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